The present short paper is written in honour of Professor Mestmücker on the occasion of his birthday. How can one pay tribute to his activity? Perhaps by choosing a topic that has been the centre of his interest for several years: the role of the state and the change in this role. The role of the state and its changes have been the subject of books and articles by Professor Mestmäcker and many other authors. It was one of the main issues at the meetings that German and Hungarian lawyers held every second or third year, organised by the Max-Planck Institut fur auslandisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg, and these meetings have assisted in the transformation of law in Hungary. I remember that in the 1980s, during one of these colloquies, some questions of a new Hungarian legal regulation, based on elements of market economy, were being discussed and Professor Mestmäcker remarked that the new rules were important but they still seemed to belong very much to a planned economy. After having thought it over one had to come to the conclusion that the remark was correct.