“The federal government and the states are convinced that additional measures are required to reduce the number of new infections every day and to reduce the pressure on the hospitals as soon as possible,” said a message for today’s federal-state meeting at which the Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz (SPD), Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Prime Ministers of the federal states took part.
The participants’ suggestions are to be summarized in a joint paper by Thursday and then decided at the federal-state meeting on Thursday.
A whole range of measures is on the table, from the renewed tightening of the Infection Protection Act to a general vaccination requirement and stricter contact restrictions.
Among other things, the Infection Protection Act, which was recently defused by the traffic light groups, is to be changed again. Scholz agreed in the Bund-Länder round that he wanted to add “important regulations” so that “highly infection countries will have an appropriate toolbox available in the future,” said the Chancellor-designate, according to the participants.
This could also include temporary closings of restaurants. It is made clear by law that these measures can also be ordered in a regionally differentiated manner. The parliamentary groups of a possible traffic light government had only decided in mid-November to delete these measures from the Infection Protection Act.
In addition to the SPD side, the Union-led federal states also called for the Infection Protection Act to be tightened again. “The states should ask the federal government – if the epidemic situation of national scope is not determined by the German Bundestag – to adapt the Infection Protection Act by December 10th so that lockdown measures will continue to be possible,” it says in a resolution proposal Federal states led by the Greens and the Union.
Among other things, “clubs and discos are to be closed, as these are areas that are associated with a particularly high risk of multiple infections,” it says. And: “At major events, the capacity should only be allowed to be used to a third.”
In areas with an extraordinarily high seven-day incidence, restrictions beyond the above should be put in place. Schleswig-Holstein, which is also governed by the CDU, wants the regulations for clubs, discos and major events to be incidence-dependent, i.e. not automatically to apply nationwide.
Facility-related and general vaccination requirements
In order to increase the pressure on the unvaccinated, vaccination should become mandatory step by step. The federal and state governments discussed, among other things, extending the job-related vaccination requirement called for at the summit last week to other professional groups – such as the fire brigade, the education sector and the police.
In a further step, the compulsory vaccination could then be extended to the general public. Scholz pleaded for this in the Bund-Länder-Round. The vote on it should take place in the Bundestag without group pressure, said Scholz.
Greens boss Robert Habeck even called for the preparations for a general vaccination to begin immediately. “Of course, a compulsory vaccination would be a far-reaching encroachment on the freedom of the individual. But it protects life and ultimately also the freedom of society, ”he told the German press agency on Tuesday. “In order to get the upper hand in the future and prevent a fifth wave, we must now prepare for a general vaccination requirement.”
Vaccination campaign, vaccination status and contact restrictions
Unvaccinated people also face stricter contact restrictions. According to the Union’s plans, they should only be allowed to meet with a maximum of five people from a maximum of two households. Vaccinated, convalescent and children under the age of twelve are not included in the total number of persons. A nationwide 2G rule is also planned. This would be like a lockdown for the unvaccinated.
At the same time, the pressure on those who have been completely vaccinated should be increased to be vaccinated a third time. According to a proposal by the SPD, the statute to be considered fully vaccinated should expire after six months.
At the meeting, the federal and state governments also reaffirmed the goal of significantly increasing the number of vaccinations. “Up to 30 million first, second and booster vaccinations are to be made possible by Christmas,” it says. To this end, the circle of those who are allowed to carry out vaccinations should be significantly expanded. It is planned, for example, that pharmacies will also be allowed to vaccinate.
Judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on the Federal Emergency Brake
In addition to the corona situation, the reason for the renewed tightening of the Infection Protection Act is the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on the federal emergency brake. The measure adopted in April 2021 with night curfews and contact restrictions as well as school closings was therefore compatible with the Basic Law.
The measures had significantly interfered with various basic rights, but were compatible with the Basic Law “in the extreme danger of the pandemic”, the court announced on Tuesday morning. This served “the protection of life and health”.
In the course of the separate ruling on school closings, the judges recognized the right of children and young people to school education for the first time. Nevertheless, the temporary ban on face-to-face teaching was permissible due to the “dynamic infection process”.
So far, the Federal Constitutional Court had only decided on urgent applications against the measures of the nationwide emergency brake – and also rejected all of them. For the first time, constitutional complaints were examined in the actual main proceedings.
Until recently, however, the parties were at odds as to which consequences should be drawn from the judgment. While the Greens and the Union insisted on stricter measures, the SPD and FDP were cautious.
The designated Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP), on the other hand, sees no need for the traffic light parties to correct the course following the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the Corona emergency brake. For the complainants who belonged to the FDP, he said that “we would of course have wished for a different result, especially with regard to the curfews”. The decision shows that a federal government has “very wide leeway in assessing the situation and also in choosing the instruments to combat the pandemic,” said Buschmann, currently the first parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group, on Tuesday in Berlin.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder sees the judgment as “the basis for a new federal emergency brake”. All those who tried to paint a different picture have now been refuted, wrote the CSU politician on Twitter. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer also called on the federal government to act: It must “change the Infection Protection Act quickly and enable all the instruments to combat crises for the federal states,” said the CDU politician to “Bild”. On Thursday, the decision will also be made that games in the Bundesliga would be played without spectators, said Kretschmer
The seven-day incidence fell slightly on Tuesday. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Tuesday morning as 452.2. A high of 452.4 had been reached on Monday. A week ago the value was 399.8 (previous month: 153.7).
More: The Constitutional Court rejects a complaint against the Corona emergency brake