Disaster control in Germany: central control at the federal level?

Due to the devastating storms, disaster control has moved to the top of the political agenda. The Greens want to give the federal government more powers. The Union does not want to shake the federal system.

Searching for the missing, removing the worst damage, cleaning up on site – this is now the order of the day after the devastating storms. And at least there it works with the cooperation of the federal and state governments. This is how the Bundeswehr helps on site. “Especially armored recovery vehicles and helicopters are a capability that only the Bundeswehr has, neither the THW nor the fire brigade has such a device,” said Andreas Steinmetz from the Bundeswehrverband im ARD–Morning magazine.

Now is the hour of help and solidarity, as Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said yesterday during his visit to the hard-hit Ahrweiler district. The time for error analysis is yet to come, he says, like many other people in charge. There is a harsh accusation: system failure.

“That is a real horse’s foot”

Days before the disaster, there were clear storm reports, but they neither reached the people nor led to local precautions. The federal states and districts are responsible for this, the federal government only provides the infrastructure for warning messages. “In my opinion, the fact that we make this separation so sharp and that the federal government has no way of coordinating activities turns out to be a real horse in such situations,” said Irene Mihalic, Green Party politician, on Deutschlandfunk.

The Greens and the FDP are calling for a stronger role for the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief. A reform process is currently underway there. President Armin Schuster is skeptical of a central control system, as he does in the daily topics stressed. In Schönau am Königssee, in the Märkischer Kreis or in the Erftkreis, the local crisis managers would know better how to warn.

“What we would like is that a federal authority like us is more involved in the crisis team work of the states,” said Schuster. A competence center is planned in which all political levels and the rescue organizations should coordinate better.

Questions to Minister Seehofer

This also requires the resources, says left-wing top candidate Dietmar Bartsch. Both personnel and material must be kept available. “This is a task that stands for the common good,” said Bartsch.

Voluntary cooperation is not enough for the Greens. Domestic politician Mihalic is in favor of changing the Basic Law so that the federal government has more powers, can bundle information and coordinate aid.

CSU Minister Seehofer clearly rejected this yesterday, saying that the federal organization was correct, that centralization would not improve anything. But he also doesn’t want to rule out that Germany might have to improve some processes. “That also applies to the reporting situation,” he said.

More sirens, SMS information to everyone – the list of demands is getting longer. But the question of where the reporting chain did not work is still unanswered. To this end, and to the planned improvements, Seehofer will soon have to answer questions from the members of the Bundestag. The Greens and FDP have requested a special meeting of the Interior Committee.