Chancellor of Germany (1949–present) on the recommendation of the chancellor; no parliamentary approval is needed. According to the Basic Law, the chancellor may set the number of cabinet ministers and dictate their specific duties. Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had the largest cabinet, with 22 ministers, in the mid-1960s. Helmut Kohl presided over 17 ministers at the start of his fourth term in 1994; the 2002 cabinet, the second of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, had 13 ministers, and the Angela Merkel cabinet as of 22 November 2005 had 15. Article 65 of the Basic Law sets forth three principles that define how the executive branch functions: Whenever
Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany, it was effective on 3 October 1990. Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations The role of the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations is as the leader of the German delegation to the United Nations in New York City and as head of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN. The position has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and is also the representative of Germany in the United Nations Security Council. The Permanent Representative, currently Christoph Heusgen,