For a while it looked as if the traffic light coalition and the Union could agree on a joint project to make the Federal Constitutional Court resilient to crises. Important rules to protect the court should be written into the Basic Law in the event that the rise of right-wing populists and right-wing extremists continues. This would have required a two-thirds majority. Now the CDU and CSU have canceled their cooperation.
“The Union faction currently sees no compelling need to change the regulations on the Federal Constitutional Court in the Basic Law,” said Union faction vice-president Andrea Lindholz (CSU). Rhenish Post. In discussions with representatives of the traffic light factions, it became clear that restructuring the legal basis of the Federal Constitutional Court would not only have advantages.
Changing the rules for appointing judges should be made more difficult
A change to the Basic Law has therefore become impossible – even though the negotiations with the Union were, according to the Green Party right-wing politician Till Steffen, quite promising: “The talks with the Union were good. But now Friedrich Merz has ordered a total blockade. That’s the opposition tactic Union is now more important than protecting our constitutional state.”
Out of concern that extreme parties would gain strength, the traffic light coalition had considered changing the current rules for making the court more difficult and protecting it against the influence of enemies of the rule of law. For this reason, some cornerstones should be included in the Basic Law and thus exempt from change with a simple majority. This included the election of judges with a two-thirds majority, the limitation of the term of office to twelve years, the exclusion of their re-election and the binding effect of Karlsruhe judgments. Work was also underway on a mechanism to overcome electoral blockages, which would be possible under the current rules for a party with more than a third of the seats in the Bundestag.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told the German Press Agency that he regretted that the Union was no longer available for discussions on the matter. “Especially in the year of the 75th birthday of the Basic Law, it would have been an important sign to strengthen the defenses of our democracy and the rule of law,” said the FDP politician. Further discussions remained possible at a later date.
SPD parliamentary group vice-president Dirk Wiese attacked the Union for the decision. “In one of the most difficult times for our democracy in decades, the Union is in no way living up to its role as a responsible opposition,” said Wiese Rhenish Post. Konstantin von Notz, deputy parliamentary group leader of the Greens, called on the Union to return to the negotiating table: “The latest positioning must not be the end of the cross-party talks.”