There is no calm in the German and European migration and security debate. After the SPD, Greens and FDP factions agreed on a compromise on the “security package” on Friday, there was harsh criticism of the partially weakened resolutions over the weekend. Meanwhile, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that he would at least temporarily suspend the right to asylum in order to combat illegal migration. This is one of the elements of his new migration strategy, he said, according to the PAP news agency. He will “demand the recognition of this decision in Europe”. The EU heads of government will meet on Thursday to discuss this issue.
In Germany, the debate revolves on the one hand about more powers for the security authorities and stricter gun laws, and on the other hand about tougher action against irregular migration. The cabinet decided on the security package after the terrorist attack in Solingen. It includes knife bans; In addition, a biometric comparison for facial recognition should be permitted in order to identify suspects more quickly. Biometric data should also be used in migration policy to determine the identity of refugees. In addition, so-called Dublin cases, i.e. migrants for whom another EU country would be responsible, should no longer receive social benefits – but only if the EU state actually responsible agrees to the withdrawal. Recognized beneficiaries of protection who travel to their home countries should also generally lose their protection status.
Changes to the performance laws
The Bundestag resolution on the security package was initially delayed, but it is now scheduled to be voted on this week. The South German newspaper The preliminary amendments have now been submitted and will now be discussed in the Interior Committee. They show that there should only be lower benefits for Dublin cases if leaving the country is “legally and actually possible”. A trip back home, on the other hand, should not lead to the loss of protected status if it is “morally imperative”. Because of the criticism of biometric matching expressed in the Bundestag hearing, the “threshold for intervention” should, among other things, be increased to “suspicion of a particularly serious crime”; The requirements for this instrument have also been tightened in other ways.
Parallel to the agreement on the security package, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) presented draft laws with which the agreed reform of EU asylum law should be implemented in Germany. Rejected asylum seekers should be deported more quickly in the event of “security or public order risks”. Meanwhile, Italy said that the planned reception camps for refugees in Albania had been completed and should be put into operation immediately according to the will of the Italian Interior Minister.
Merz demands rejection at the borders
Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz said at the CSU party conference about the security package that the Greens had obviously “once again” weakened large parts of the resolutions. “And one thing is completely missing, namely the rejections at the borders.” Andrea Lindholz (CSU), vice-president of the Union parliamentary group and former chairwoman of the Interior Committee, also said SZthe traffic light factions turned a “half step forward” into a “triple step in the area of security and migration”. The slowdown is “devastating”.
The benefit cuts in Dublin cases had previously only had a limited effect, but now the instrument has been further weakened. “The new digital powers also increase the hurdles for the authorities to such an extent that their effectiveness in practice is questioned.” The changes to gun law, in turn, mainly caused “bureaucracy and effort that is difficult to control.” Like Merz, Lindholz called for “comprehensive rejections at the borders” and the storage of IP addresses to combat crime.
The federal managing director of the German Association of Judges, Sven Rebehn, also said: “The traffic light factions want to shrink the federal government’s security package, which is too small, even further into a mini-package.” The knife bans and new powers for the police will not gain much for internal security. However, the traffic light was unable to agree on a new regulation for storing IP addresses that complies with European law.
FDP parliamentary group deputy Konstantin Kuhle, however, defended the package. “Those seeking protection for whom another EU member state is responsible, like the perpetrator in Solingen, will have their social benefits canceled,” he told the SZ. The fact that it is easier to lose your protection status if you travel to your home country is even “extended to the group of those entitled to subsidiary protection”. And there is a “uniform catalog of exceptions” for the weapons ban zones.