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The reform of the Infection Protection Act was hastily passed by the Bundestag and Bundesrat. This is to give the crown measures a new legal basis.
Immediately after the Bundestag, the Bundesrat also passed the reform of the Infection Protection Act in order to put the crown measures on a more precise legal basis in the future. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier must also sign the law today for it to take effect Thursday.
After a controversial debate in the Bundestag, the government project received 415 votes in favor, 236 against and eight abstentions. Half an hour later, the Federal Council also approved the law with 49 votes in favor, a clear majority of the total 69 votes in the state chamber. Determines the legal framework for measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
While the Union and the SPD declared that the crown’s protection measures would be placed on a secure legal basis, the opposition criticized that the amendment did not yet give parliament sufficient influence over fundamental rights violations. The Greens agreed despite their concerns. The FDP, the left and the AfD rejected the law.
The government defends the reform
In the Bundestag debate, representatives of the ruling parties defended the legal reform. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn called for more confidence in managing the crisis. The increase in the number of infections sooner or later led to increased suffering in intensive care units and a loss of control, said the CDU politician. SPD health politician Bärbel Bas rejected fears that the reform would expand the powers of the federal and state governments. “Quite the opposite is the case,” he said.
At the beginning of the debate, the AfD had initially tried to get the issue off the agenda, but failed due to unified resistance from the other groups. The parliamentary manager of the AfD parliamentary group, Bernd Baumann, criticized that the coalition had pushed the motion in committees without the deputies having enough time to examine and debate. “Today’s bill is a government authorization that has not existed in history,” he said.
Broad criticism of legal reform
MEPs from the other political groups rejected the accusations. The process was completely orderly and parliament was “massively involved,” said the manager of the Union’s parliamentary group, Michael Grosse-Brömer. The law will strengthen parliament in the crown pandemic. The parliamentary manager of the FDP faction, Marco Buschmann, accused the AfD of having no alternatives, but just wanted to riot.
However, speakers from the FDP, the Greens and the Left Party criticized the reform of the Infection Protection Law. The planned new regulations do not give governments any security barriers, but rather give them “a free ticket,” said the leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Lindner. It is a fundamental democratic question that governments should never decide on such massive violations of civil and fundamental rights, said the left’s Parliamentary Executive Director Jan Korte.
Crown measurements listed in detail
The revised Infection Protection Act lists in detail the actions that the federal and state governments can take if infections increase dramatically. In addition to mask requirements, distance requirements, and travel restrictions, this also includes curfews, contact restrictions, the closure of businesses and facilities, as well as a ban on religious events and services. In principle, federal states should limit their ordinances to four weeks and give reasons for an extension. Furthermore, the Bundestag must be informed regularly.
The courts had repeatedly struck down provisions on the grounds that the so-called general clause of the Infection Protection Act, according to which the state can take “necessary measures” in an emergency, is no longer sufficient as a legal basis.
