faq
In the Chancellery today, Chancellor Scholz and the state leaders are discussing contentious issues regarding migration policy. This is about the distribution of refugee costs and the question of how the influx can be limited. An overview.
the initial situation
Today the prime ministers of the 16 federal states will meet for consultations. The topics include the financing of accommodation for refugees, the future of the Deutschlandticket, hospital reform, the acceleration of planning and approval processes and other controversial issues. In the afternoon there will be a federal-state meeting in the Chancellery with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The focus should be on questions relating to migration policy.
What are the countries demanding?
Many municipalities feel overburdened by the increasing number of people arriving. The federal states discussed this at the meeting of the Prime Ministers in mid-October. They are constantly demanding that the federal government contribute more to the refugee costs.
Specifically, they demand at least 10,500 euros per refugee from the federal government every year. In addition, the states are demanding that the federal government cover the entire cost of accommodation as well as a flat rate of 1.25 billion euros for other services, such as the care of unaccompanied minors.
What are payment cards and benefits in kind?
Cash payments to refugees are seen, particularly in the Union, as an incentive to flee to Germany. In mid-October, the federal states called for “cash payments to be consistently replaced with benefits in kind or a chip card”. The federal government should create the conditions “for the introduction of a nationwide uniform payment card”. Chancellor Scholz is open to proposals to replace cash payments to refugees with benefits in kind.
However, the federal government emphasizes that municipalities can switch to benefits in kind under the current legal situation. However, they often shy away from higher administrative costs. When it comes to calling for a nationwide solution for a payment card, the federal government has not yet shown any willingness to take on this demanding and presumably lengthy IT project.
Could social benefits be cut for asylum seekers?
Individual countries such as Bavaria are vehemently calling for social benefits for asylum seekers to be significantly reduced in order to make Germany less attractive for refugees compared to other EU states. The states as a whole are more cautious here: they are simply calling for the federal government to examine “whether and how harmonization of purchasing power-related social benefit standards can be achieved in the EU member states.”
This must “of course be done taking into account the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court,” the state paper from mid-October continues. Last year, the judges in Karlsruhe overturned the 2019 reduction in benefits by a flat ten percent for single asylum seekers who live in shared accommodation. The constitutional judges saw this as a violation of the fundamental right to a humane minimum subsistence level.
What do the federal states demand from charitable work?
At the top meeting with Scholz, the federal states also want to ensure that “more asylum seekers do charitable work.” The Chancellor supports this demand. However, in order to make this possible, a change in the law would be necessary.
Until now, the authorities have had to check that this work is being carried out “in addition” – i.e. that otherwise it could not be carried out at all or not to the same extent. This is also intended to prevent regular staff from being laid off and then employing asylum seekers at significantly lower costs.
What does the federal government say?
The federal government refers to already difficult discussions about the 2024 budget and sees no scope for the higher payments demanded by the states. However, Chancellor Scholz had agreed to pay a flat rate of 5,000 euros per refugee per year again in the future. From the perspective of the states, however, the funds promised are far too little for this “breathing cap”.
A spokesman for the federal government said on Friday that the Chancellor was confident that there would be an agreement. At the same time, he said that the meeting was also about how asylum procedures could be made more efficient and irregular migration could be further limited.
What measures has the federal government already decided on?
As requested by the states, the federal government has now also introduced stationary police checks at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic. The cabinet also decided on a package to speed up deportations. Among other things, it provides for more search rights for the police and significantly longer immigration detention.
What topics are still on the agenda?
The federal and state governments have long agreed that asylum procedures need to be accelerated. However, there is still a lack of necessary personnel on both sides. The topic should still be on the agenda.
Other controversial issues include demands for more return agreements with countries of origin and the expansion of the list of safe countries of origin. There are also calls for upper limits on the number of asylum seekers and the idea of setting up asylum centers abroad and checking there whether someone even has a chance of being granted asylum.
Are suggestions from the opposition also being taken up?
On Friday, Chancellor Scholz met with Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and the chairman of the CSU regional group in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt. Afterwards it was only said that the conversation was “very good” and the atmosphere was “factual and constructive”. Confidentiality was agreed upon. The Union faction had previously presented a 26-point paper, which was primarily about tightening the asylum rules.
What is certain is that Scholz wants to achieve the broadest possible consensus – also in view of the fact that, according to current surveys, a large majority of the population finds the issue particularly pressing.
How many asylum applications were made in Germany this year?
According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 251,213 asylum applications were submitted in Germany from January to September. That is around 7,000 more applications than in the whole of 2022. However, the numbers are nowhere near the level from 2015 and 2016. In 2016 alone, 745,545 applications were submitted.
Most asylum seekers registered in Germany this year came from Syria. In addition, there are around a million people from Ukraine to Germany who do not have to apply for asylum.