The sluggish and rather tiresome debate on the new immigration law seems to be drawing to a close. In any case, both government and opposition representatives have unanimously decided to finish this months-long drag as early as January. “Now the chances of the law being passed are 50 to 50,” both the deputy chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, Wolfgang Bosbach, and the managing director of the Greens’ parliamentary group, Volker Beck, are convinced. “Either we succeed in getting this bill through the Bundesrat, or it will be buried forever,” the politicians believe.
Let us recall that the new law, drawn up by the red-green Schröder cabinet, is intended to regulate the immigration flow to Germany in such a way as not to place an additional burden on the local labor market. According to government representatives, the innovations in this area should also contribute to the development of the German economy and attract highly qualified workers to the country.
Today, three points remain controversial above all: humanitarian law for refugees, integration issues, and rules for labor migration. The opposition also insists that security issues be made the top priority in the new law. For example, even at the slightest suspicion of any connection between an individual and terrorist activity, entry into Germany must be permanently closed to that person. In addition, according to the CDU/CSU, the procedure for deporting foreigners who have committed criminal acts in Germany should be simplified.
And yet the main stumbling block in the negotiation process between the government and the opposition remains the question of the principles of labor migration. The SPD and the Greens continue to insist that migration to Germany from third countries is possible even without a predetermined job. The CDU/CSU representatives find such vagueness completely unacceptable. As Bavaria’s Interior Minister Günther Beckstein stated, the issue of labor migration and annual quotas for labor is a “key point” in the negotiations in the mediation committee of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. A compromise could be the following option, proposed by the Free Democrat Max Stadler, FDP. The red-green government would stick to its proposals, but the question of quotas would then be left to the Bundesrat, where, as is known, opposition representatives currently dominate.
The seriousness of both sides’ intentions to complete the negotiations as soon as possible is confirmed if only by the fact that the number of committee members is sharply decreasing. Instead of 20 politicians, only seven will be on the committee starting this year. This proposal is to be “approved” at the next meeting on January 16.
By the way, according to Saarland’s Premier Peter Müller, this meeting should be the decisive one, at which everything will be settled.