Status: 08/25/2021 8:56 p.m.
Because of the corona crisis, the Bundestag has voted in favor of extending the “epidemic situation of national importance”. This means that the federal and state governments continue to have special powers to impose protective measures.
The Bundestag has extended the possibility of imposing corona measures by the states. The parliament voted with the votes of the government factions of the CDU / CSU and SPD for the extension of the so-called epidemic situation of national scope in Germany for a further three months. Without the decision it would have expired at the end of September.
325 MPs voted in favor, 253 against. Five abstained. The opposition factions had already announced before the vote that they would not agree to the coalition’s proposal.
Bundestag decides to extend the “epidemic situation”
Hanni Hüsch, ARD Berlin, daily news 8 p.m., August 25, 2021
Greens: “Too late, chaotic and inefficient”
The roll-call vote was preceded by a controversial debate. The Greens, the FDP and the Left criticized that there was no longer any basis for extending special powers. The health care system is currently not threatened with overload despite the renewed increase in the number of infections. The progressive vaccinations would have changed the situation.
Instead of establishing the “epidemic situation” again, clear legal regulations are required for individual corona measures and transitional regulations that are still necessary, demanded the Greens, the FDP and the Left. The Greens’ legal expert, Manuela Rottmann, accused the government of acting “too late, chaotically and inefficiently” and of continuing to secure special powers for itself with the “makeshift” emergency “of the” epidemic situation “. The AfD demanded that the “epidemic situation of national importance” be lifted immediately.
Spahn: Overload from “pandemic of the unvaccinated”
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) justified the extension, which had been requested by the 16 prime ministers, with the fact that the pandemic was not over yet. He called again to get vaccinated. Vaccination is the way back to normal. There is also a threat that the health system will continue to be overloaded by a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” if the corona regulations are not implemented. The federal and state governments would need a legal basis for this.
The SPD MP Dirk Wiese pointed out that Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) and the Baden-Württemberg state chief Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) were in favor of an extension.
Proposal for new indicators
The Bundestag resolution also provides that Spahn should make a proposal by the end of August on how the previous incidence values for corona restrictions should be replaced by new indicators. According to a decision by the Corona cabinet, the threshold of 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants is to be deleted from the Infection Protection Act. To this end, new indicators such as the number of hospital admissions for Covid 19 patients are to be introduced.
The establishment of the “epidemic situation of national scope” is the prerequisite for interfering with fundamental rights in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and an overload of the health system. The Federal Government can order them without the Federal Council being involved. This means that the federal government can continue to issue corona ordinances, which then form the basis for corona restrictions for the federal states. These include contact and exit restrictions, assembly bans, company closings or travel restrictions.
The special powers for the Federal Minister of Health have already been a point of contention in Parliament on several occasions. The “epidemic situation” was identified for the first time at the beginning of the corona pandemic in March 2020 and has now been extended for the fourth time.