Since the community used to be part of Germany, "reunification" seems to be the logical step to take (the region borders the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate). However, opponents to this idea argue that the autonomy of the region would be lost in Germany as much as it would in France, though giving the regio the status of a German Bundesland could alleviate this issue. Because of the strong cohesion of the regional population, however, some would prefer the creation of an independent state.