Editing Vice-Chancellor of Germany (section)

== Office and appointment mechanism ==
The German cabinet consists of the chancellor and the federal ministers. According to the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Basic Law]] (Article 69.1), the chancellor appoints one of the [[Cabinet of Germany|ministers]] as vice-chancellor. In contrast to the appointment of a cabinet minister, there is no need for a formal appointment by the president. The appointment is an exclusive power of the chancellor.

The chancellor is theoretically free to choose a deputy chancellor. In practice, a German government is usually based on a coalition of two or more parties and the chancellor gives the title to a minister of the second largest coalition party upon recommendation of that party's leadership.

The German vice-chancellor can be regarded as the equivalent of a [[deputy prime minister]] in other parliamentary systems. Unlike the vice president post in presidential systems of governments, the German vice-chancellor is not the automatic successor in the event that a sitting chancellor suddenly leaves office.

A German cabinet exists only as long as the current chancellor is in office. The end of a chancellor's term in office (either by death or resignation or the first meeting of a newly elected Bundestag) automatically terminates the office of any minister. If this happens, the [[president of Germany]] appoints the former chancellor or, if this is not possible, one of the former cabinet ministers (not necessarily, but most likely the former vice-chancellor) as acting chancellor, until the parliament elects a new chancellor.<ref>Georg Hermes, in: Horst Dreier (Hrsg.) Grundgesetz-Kommentar, Band 2, 2. Auflage 2006, Art. 69, Rn. 7, 17-19.</ref> When in 1974 Chancellor [[Willy Brandt]] resigned and refused to remain in office until his successor's election, President [[Gustav Heinemann]] ensured a corresponding precedent and appointed former vice-chancellor [[Walter Scheel]] as acting chancellor.

The Basic Law does not state who shall perform the chancellor's powers and duties, if both the chancellor and the vice-chancellor are unable to do so. The German cabinet's rules of procedure state that in absence of both office-holders cabinet meetings shall be chaired by a cabinet member designated for this purpose by either the chancellor or the vice-chancellor or, if such a designation has not taken place or if the designee is not able to do so, by the present cabinet member with the longest uninterrupted membership in the federal government (§22.1).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/geschaeftsordnung-der-bundesregierung-459846|title=Geschäftsordnung der Bundesregierung}}</ref> It is however unclear, whether this provision extends to other powers of the office of chancellor. In an expertise issued by the Bundestag's scientific service in 2014, the legal opinion is that this is the case.<ref>Wissenschaftlicher Dienst des Bundestages. Sachstand. Vertretungsregelungen für das Amt des Bundeskanzlers und des Bundespräsidenten (AZ: WD 3-3000-016/14), p. 3–4.</ref>