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SChancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and prime ministers spoke for hours on Monday about the new crown measures. But the big question that had arisen earlier was left open at the end: How should it continue? Merkel said after the talks that they had discussed in detail and intensively. But there will be no new mandatory restrictions at the moment. Instead, a longer-term crown concept is due to be presented in the next week.
It quickly becomes clear that the deliberations have uncovered fundamental differences of opinion. According to Merkel, most federal states insisted on not making any “intermediate legal changes” before current regulations expired at the end of November. On this subject, she had a slightly different opinion. Even a day later, divisions between political positions are evident.
Merkel once again expressed her dissatisfaction with the deliberations. She could have imagined more at the conference, she said at the Süddeutsche Zeitung economic summit in Berlin. Every day counts, hesitation costs more and more money when in doubt. “That is why I am sometimes impatient,” Merkel said. However, it is also difficult to estimate how the infection process will unfold in the next few days.
In general, federalism is “a good thing” and allows a more flexible fight against pandemics, the foreign minister stressed. At the same time, he made it clear: “I will continue to be the impatient party in this matter, and I appreciate any support I receive.”
The head of the Foreign Ministry, Helge Braun (CDU), emphasized that the federal-state meeting “was not without result.” The concern to minimize personal contacts has become very clear, said in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. Braun defended a decision document that the Chancellery had sent to the participants before the conference. He proposed new measures against the pandemic, although some prime ministers had indicated that they initially did not want to adopt any additional tightening.
Braun went on to say that the Prime Minister’s proposals went overboard by two points. “That would have been contact restrictions and protection against infection at school, especially with the elderly.” According to Braun, this should prevent the virus from spreading further among young people. The 14-24 age group is said to have the highest incidence in nearly all federal states. The federal states have been asked for suggestions on how infections in schools can be reduced.
“No weekly salami tactics,” says Schwesig
The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig (SPD), also spoke at the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. There he urged a general concept for the months of December and January. She wanted “no weekly salami tactic,” Schwesig said. Before the federal-state meeting, it had been agreed that this was only a provisional balance and that there should be no new provisions because the effect of the restrictions that had been in place since the beginning of the month was not yet fully recognizable. “You cannot tighten the screws every week,” said the SPD politician.
Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) also defended the open outcome of the federal-state consultations. It must first be clear “what the measures of two weeks ago brought,” Woidke told the RBB. Regarding the schools in his state, he added that they were not causing infection. Out of more than 900 schools in Brandenburg, only five are closed, representing just 0.5 percent.
After the closures at the beginning of the pandemic, it was “the order of the day” to reopen schools from both an educational and a social perspective. For the next federal-state meeting next week he would like “unity,” Woidke said. This increases acceptance of the resolutions and a long-term roadmap is necessary. “People want security, they don’t want a new sow to come through town every day,” Woidke said.
CSU agrees “new measures”
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt called for more crown restrictions with a view to next week. “Everyone in the CSU agrees that more measures are needed,” he said before a meeting of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag. It is already foreseeable that with the above requirements, the objective of reducing the number of new infections per week to 50 per 100,000 inhabitants by Christmas cannot be achieved.
Dobrindt cautions that there should be no restrictions on retail sales in December. Instead, he advocates for nationwide requirements in schools. Contacts there would have to be reduced. This can also be achieved with a combination of measures. We must talk about individual measures in schools such as compulsory mask lessons, alternate or hybrid. This should also be prepared in a public debate. But it does not expressly announce school closings, Dobrindt said.
Meanwhile, Berlin’s ruling mayor Michael Müller (SPD) gave closed restaurants and theaters some hope of possible cautious relaxation. “There is a great desire to make something possible for gastronomy and culture,” he told RTL and n-tv. But if there is, then the options will be very limited. With conditions, with measures that very few people can only comply with ”.
Also for these areas, there must be predictability and predictability. “I think it is very important and it also gives a bit of hope,” Müller said. “We have to see that so many people support our measures. It is not about constantly telling them what is not possible, but also about making things possible ”. At the same time, Müller also advocated keeping schools and nurseries open.
Hofreiter speaks of “chaos”
The leader of the green parliamentary group, Anton Hofreiter, goes so far as to speak of the “chaos” that the chancellor and the country’s leaders have caused with their ill-prepared deliberations. In doing so, they are undermining the most important resource in the fight against the pandemic, the public trust.
“I may have to fine-tune it later,” Hofreiter says ahead of the next round of federal and state consultations on November 25. Currently, too many people were infected with the virus. “Flexibility will not be possible.” If the numbers do not decrease significantly, the November issue will have to be extended through December.
Kubicki speaks of “stupidity and inconsistency”
FDP Deputy Director Wolfgang Kubicki commented particularly clearly on the deliberations. “That was not a good day for the Chancellor,” he wrote in a guest comment for “Focus Online.” The Foreign Ministry’s decision document was “torn” before it could achieve a great media impact in the media. The “stupid nature and inconsistency” of the proposals was “really remarkable.”
Kubicki stressed that federal states would be responsible for determining protection against infection. “The round of heads of government that Angela Merkel had created and for whom there is no constitutional basis has come to an end,” he wrote. The Chancellery had surpassed the curve with its illogical and absurd submission. It is time for parliaments to take control.
