Countries make Scholz wait more than three hours
Instead of a migration summit over coffee and cake and now a late start to a long night: the minister presidents of the federal states have arrived at the Federal Chancellery more than three hours late for the long-awaited summit on migration policy and refugee care. They also discussed reducing bureaucracy and the future of the Deutschlandticket.
The meeting was actually supposed to take place at 3 p.m., but the federal states were unable to agree on a common line for a long time because the federal states with minister presidents from the CDU, CDU and Greens had registered additional demands at short notice. The meeting is seen as a kind of showdown after the federal states and local authorities have been insisting for months that the federal government ease the burden of providing for refugees and the CDU/CSU has been insisting on measures to limit immigration.
According to information from RTL and ntv, the background to the delay in the state talks is a list of additional demands submitted on Monday morning by those states governed by CDU, CSU or Green minister presidents. Among other things, they want asylum procedures to be carried out in third countries outside the European Union in future. They are also calling for a revision of the EU-Turkey agreement so that Syrian refugees living in Turkey, for example, are not waved through to Europe. Furthermore, family reunification for those entitled to subsidiary protection - primarily war refugees such as people from Syria - should be suspended.
Furthermore, German asylum law should be fundamentally revised and the German government should stop voluntary admission programs, as it has announced for Afghanistan. Border controls should also be tightened and criminals should be deported more quickly. In addition, a federal-state commission should draw up an overall concept for the long-term design of migration policy. These demands largely correspond to the wishes that the CDU and CSU parties have already formulated in recent days. According to information from RTL and ntv, the SPD-led federal states did not want these to become part of the package of demands of all federal states at short notice on Monday.
All states want more money
On the other hand, the federal states are united on the subject of migration in their high financial expectations and the demand for permanent regulations in the negotiations with the federal government. They accuse the federal government of wanting to reduce its share from 3.75 billion euros this year to 1.25 billion euros next year, which is unacceptable. In a resolution in mid-October, the federal states had demanded a lump sum of 1.25 billion euros and at least 10,500 euros per migrant. The federal government, on the other hand, is offering around half the amount demanded.
The federal-state meeting will also discuss measures to reduce bureaucracy and the future financing of the Deutschlandticket. The federal government no longer wants to bear the current division of costs. An increase in the price of the current 49-euro ticket is on the table. In view of the large number of topics and the diversity of positions, the summit is expected to run late into the night. The talks between the federal and state governments could also extend into Tuesday.
- Despite the late arrival of the federal states' minister presidents, including Olaf Scholz as Prime Minister and representatives from SPD, CDU, CSU, and Alliance 90/The Greens, the migration policy and refugee care summit commenced with discussions on reducing bureaucracy and the Deutschalticket.
- Amidst the disagreement between federal and state governments regarding asylum policy and immigration, the CDU, CSU, and Green-led states have submitted a list of demands, including carrying out asylum procedures in third countries, revising the EU-Turkey agreement, and suspending family reunification for subsidiary protection seekers.
- The federal-state meeting is also focusing on the financial aspect of migration, with all states agreeing on their high financial expectations and demanding permanent regulations from the federal government, as they believe the proposed reduction of the federal government's share by 2.5 billion euros is unacceptable.
- The SPD-led states are reportedly not in favor of the sudden addition of these demands from the CDU, CSU, and Green-led states, as discussed during the meeting held at the Federal Chancellery.
- The federal-state commission is tasked with drawing up an overall concept for the long-term design of migration policy, with potential measures including tightening border controls, deporting criminals more quickly, and revising German asylum law.
Source: www.ntv.de
