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The Infection Protection Act serves as the foundation for the federal government’s far-reaching measures against the corona pandemic, and has received much criticism in the past. A new version of the Bundestag and Bundesrat will be resolved on Wednesday, in an accelerated process.
The main objective of the change is to legally support the measures to combat pandemics that until now have been issued by the government by ordinance and, therefore, create greater legal certainty. At 12 noon, the Bundestag must first discuss the draft of the coalition groups CDU / CSU and SPD in the second and third reading and then vote.
The Federal Council will also decide on this in a special meeting at 3 pm. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will likely write the law the same day for it to take effect.
The Infection Protection Law had already been amended several times in the wake of the corona pandemic. In early spring, it was introduced that the Bundestag may determine an epidemic situation of national importance. At the time, Parliament did this immediately, giving the Ministry of Health special powers to issue legal ordinances, without the Federal Council having to give its consent. Usually this is necessary for government regulations. The state of the epidemic is still valid today, but the Bundestag can end it at any time.
However, in the run-up to the envisaged amendment, not only the type of legislative procedure raised harsh criticism, but also the content of the new regulation met with resistance in some cases. The most important aspects at a glance:
What exactly does the change in the law do?
With the modification of the law, a new paragraph 28a will be inserted in the law. It lists in detail what protective measures may be prescribed by state governments and competent authorities to contain the pandemic.
These include: distance requirements, exit and contact restrictions in private and public spaces, the restriction or prohibition of accommodation, travel, cultural, sporting and leisure events, the closure of stores or the requirement to wear a mask in public spaces. These are basically the measures that have already been taken during the spring close and in some cases also apply to the November partial close. With the reform, however, they are now also anchored in the law.
In the past, it was often criticized that the ordinance would violate the fundamental rights of citizens for an indefinite period of time. It is now stipulated that such ordinances will be limited in time. In principle, they should be valid for four weeks. But it can be expanded. In addition, the regulation must have a general justification.
Among other things, new rules are planned for loss of income. Compensation claims for parents who are unable to work due to childcare will be extended and expanded until March 2021. Anyone taking an “avoidable trip” to foreign risk areas, on the other hand, should not receive any compensation for loss. income in case a quarantine is required after return. The federal government should be able to regulate that the uninsured also have the right to vaccinations and tests. Hospitals that suspend operations must receive financial compensation.
Why is the opposition criticizing the project?
The opposition considers that the new regulations are not sufficiently defined and, therefore, constitutionally questionable. It also lacks the stronger participation rights of parliaments. And he criticizes the rapid pace at which the law is supposed to be passed.
The government bill continues the concentration of decision-making power in the home of Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), said left-wing leader Katja Kipping. According to the leader of the parliamentary group Dietmar Bartsch, the left does not want to agree with the draft. The FDP has also announced it. “For us, the government’s room for maneuver when it comes to violating fundamental rights is still too great,” said parliamentary group leader Christian Lindner (read an interview with the president of the FDP here). The AfD also harshly criticized the plans.
Green politician Dieter Janecek complained that the regulations remained “as vague and legally imprecise as the previous legal situation.” However, the leader of the parliamentary group Katrin Göring-Eckardt announced on Wednesday morning that her MPs would vote in favor of the reform. “Of course it was very late, of course it was hectic in the last meters, but it still has to be said: it really is a real legal basis for the measures now,” Göring-Eckardt told RTL and n-tv stations. The states co-governed by the Greens also want to agree in the Federal Council.
What else happened in the lead up to the vote?
Many parliamentarians have been inundated by a deluge of critical spam emails in recent days and asked to avoid the new law. His office alone had received about 37,000 such emails as of Tuesday morning, CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt reported. The vast majority have identical passages in the text. It cannot be clarified who is behind it. The FDP and the Greens also reported something similar.
The flood of emails is apparently due in part to templates that opponents of the Infection Protection Act distribute on the Internet. The ready-made text modules were also requested to be sent by letter and fax to the respective members of the Bundestag at the district level.
Criticism from opponents of state policy on the crown culminates in the accusation that the amendment is an “enabling law.” Democracy is supposedly suspended, the path of dictatorship is taken. Opponents allude to the National Socialists Enabling Act of 1933, with which the Reichstag stripped itself of its powers and transferred the legislation to Adolf Hitler.
Chancellor Heiko Maas (SPD), among others, strictly rejected this comparison on Twitter: “Regardless of whether you think it is correct: the crown measures we are adopting have nothing to do with the Enabling Law. Anyone making such infamous comparisons mocks the victims of National Socialism and shows that they learn nothing from history. “Representatives of other parties who see the reform as critical also rejected the comparison.
What protests have been announced?
Several demonstrations against the resolutions are planned for Wednesday morning in Berlin. According to the police, 4,000 participants were registered. In the vicinity of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the so-called “pacified districts”, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has banned twelve demonstrations.
