Until 2006, the Basic Law allowed the federal government to pass Rahmengesetze, framework laws. They did not regulate an area completely. The states had to fill in the frame, and the federal law could go into detail only in exceptional cases. The universities and the civil service were regulated this way. Changing this system took years. In 2003, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat set up a joint commission under Edmund Stoiber and Franz Müntefering. On 17 December 2004, it failed over the question of who controls education. The coalition agreement of 2005 restarted the reform on the basis of the commission’s work. The Bundestag passed it on 30 June 2006 with 428 votes to 162, and the Bundesrat on 7 July 2006. On 1 September 2006, the federal power to pass framework laws was abolished.