SPD chairman Saskia Esken has announced that the party will play a strong role in cooperation with the head of government. “As Chancellor, Olaf Scholz will provide orientation, and with this office he also has the authority to issue guidelines,” she told the editorial network in Germany. “A wise exercise of this guideline competence does not show itself in making decisions on your own and then wondering if others don’t go along with it.”
Together with the Chancellor, the ministers and the parliamentary group leadership, the SPD leadership will help shape the work of this government. This results not least from the role of the party leaders in the coalition committee, which is the highest body in the coalition. (12/10/2021)
Scholz after the federal-state consultations: “We will probably have to vaccinate longer”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged joint efforts with the federal states to significantly accelerate the corona vaccinations in Germany. In view of the knowledge about changes in the virus occurrence, it is all the more urgent that as many as possible now get a booster, said the SPD politician after consultations with the Prime Minister with a view to the new Omikron variant. “We will probably have to vaccinate longer.”
A meeting of the new crisis team with the federal states should take place in the coming week in order to support further vaccination offers, said Scholz. The planned Corona Expert Council should also meet in the next week. The situation should always be followed up to date. It should then be possible for federal and state governments to take decisions at short notice. The new Corona Expert Council should not replace the various scientific committees in the countries. Rather, the aim is that the federal government should be able to assess the mutations and closely follow the respective development in the pandemic in order not to miss the necessary moment to act. NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), currently the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference, also emphasized that the federal states would retain their own scientific committees.
Wüst also underlined the importance of a joint federal and state strategy for the procurement of corona drugs. The point is that drugs arrive quickly at the patient immediately after a positive corona test. In addition, the pace must be accelerated with approvals and possibly also drug research in this area should be specifically promoted. A common drug strategy could be a second pillar in addition to vaccination, in order to prevent particularly severe disease courses and overloading the intensive care units. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has confirmed that. Lauterbach was connected according to information from participants.
Scholz took part in the meeting of the Prime Ministers, which was held by video conference, for the first time in his role as Chancellor. The meeting lasted longer than initially expected. In contrast to the extraordinary federal-state summit a week ago, the round was not exclusively about the corona pandemic. The agenda also included discussions on current federal and European issues.
In view of false reports and threats in messenger services, the federal states are calling for the new federal government to take more decisive action against hate on the Internet. “We are very concerned about the conspiracy theories, lies, agitation and misinformation that is being disseminated via certain communication platforms and that it is reaching a large audience,” said Wüst. Scholz agreed to examine the legal situation.
The federal states apparently needed clarification regarding the planned mandatory vaccination. It was about the point in time from which this could be introduced. In the draft for the new regulation of the Infection Protection Act, which the Bundestag and Bundesrat are supposed to decide on this Friday, March 15, 2022 is apparently mentioned for the introduction of a so-called facility-related vaccination requirement. This would affect employees in clinics, nursing homes, medical practices, emergency services or maternity facilities. At the same time, Scholz announced the general compulsory vaccination for February. Wüst demanded that the compulsory vaccination in medical facilities and nursing homes to protect particularly vulnerable people must be implemented “as quickly as possible”. The advice on the general compulsory vaccination should not be delayed. Because of the fourth corona wave, speed is needed to protect the elderly in particular, said Wüst. (December 09, 2021)
New Minister of the Environment on the expansion of wind power: “It will not go away without a dispute”
The new environment minister, Steffi Lemke, expects conflicts with the planned drastic expansion of wind and solar power. “That won’t go off without a dispute. No, I don’t expect that,” admitted the Green politician when she was inaugurated. The expansion of renewable energies must now be promoted in a different dimension. By 2030, the SPD, FDP and Greens want to increase the share of renewable energies to 80 percent of electricity consumption. Currently it is almost 50 percent.
The coalition agreement stipulates that the expansion of renewable energy has priority over nature conservation in cases of doubt. Nature conservation and species protection activists see this critically. Lemke emphasized that nature conservationists in particular are aware that the climate crisis is also the greatest threat to species protection. The Ministry of the Environment hands over its previous central climate departments to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In return, Lemke was given responsibility for consumer protection. (December 09, 2021)
New family minister wants to fight child poverty
The new Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) wants to “declare war” on child poverty in Germany, as she said when she officially took office. As an instrument for this, Spiegel named the basic child security, on which the SPD, FDP and Greens had agreed in their coalition agreement. This is to bundle previous financial support services such as child benefit and benefits for children in Hartz IV households. Initially, an immediate bonus is planned, which will benefit 2.7 million children and young people from families with low incomes, said Spiegel. It is about giving these families unbureaucratic help, she emphasized.
As further goals of her term of office, Spiegel named among other things the support of children and adolescents in the corona pandemic and an ambitious equality policy. The previous Family Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), who took over the defense department on Wednesday, wished her successor all the best and called Spiegel’s new role a “wonderful office in which one can achieve a lot”. (December 09, 2021)
Lindner: “I’m not a fan of tax increases”
Olaf Scholz actually stood for thrift, solid state finances and the debt brake. Then the pandemic came and the finance minister was forced to leave the path he had taken and spend a lot, a lot of money within a short period of time to keep the German economy from collapsing. Well, when the finance ministry was handed over to his successor Christian Lindner (FDP), Scholz emphasized that his government wants to return to the path of thrift at some point. Solid public finances are a priority, but the pandemic is still the greatest challenge, including for the budget. A frugal budget policy is important in order to create reserves in order to be able to act in an emergency.
Scholz said the post of finance minister was a special job that he was happy to do. “It’s all about everything.” FDP leader Lindner added that he was looking forward to his new position. “I come to this house with my own ideas and ideas.” He wants to stand for an economical use of taxpayers’ money and for solidity. With the upcoming supplementary budget for 2021, agreements from the coalition talks would be implemented. According to insiders, it will be passed in the cabinet on December 15 and park more than 50 billion euros of unused loans in the federal government’s climate and transformation fund – as a reserve for later investments. Lindner also said that Germany is already a highest tax country. “I’m not a fan of tax increases.” Existing taxes would also have to be enforced. Lindner is planning his first trip abroad to Paris on Monday. Today, Thursday, he wants to call the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. (December 09, 2021)
Göring-Eckardt elected Vice President of the Bundestag
The previous leader of the Green Group, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, is the new Vice-President of the German Bundestag. She received 501 of the 689 votes cast. 140 MPs voted no, there were 48 abstentions. The Green politician succeeds Claudia Roth, who is the new Minister of State for Culture in the Ampel government. Göring-Eckardt had already been Vice President of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013. Vice-President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), who announced the result of the election, congratulated her with the words: “I am looking forward to a well-founded reinforcement of the Presidium.”
In contrast, the AfD applicant Michael Kaufmann failed for the second time. With only 94 yes votes, he missed the required number of 369 votes by far. He achieved an even worse result than when he first ran for the vice-presidential post in October, when he got 118 votes in favor. (December 09, 2021)