Another round of difficult talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the prime ministers of the German states begins today Monday in Berlin, specifically in the chancellery with a central question: how Germany will limit the growing irregular immigration, as the number of new arrivals, refugees and migrants , continuously records growth in Germany as well.

Federal government and states seem to already agree on some key points: faster processing of asylum applications but also acceleration of deportations e.g. within three months for those who do not meet the basic conditions for granting asylum in Germany.

At the same time, the German states are requesting the immediate reinforcement with additional staff of the competent asylum and immigration services as well as the administrative courts, which are hearing corresponding cases and are already at the limits of their capabilities.

Benefits in kind in the future?

The second critical issue concerns social benefits for refugees in Germany, with the government not ruling out a shift from cash benefits to a benefit-in-kind system. There are also some states that request a reduction in any case of the amount of financial benefits granted in order to reduce the “incentives” for immigration, which of course will have to get the green light from the Federal Constitutional Court.

However, the states are also lobbying for greater financial support from the central government, possibly through a “permanent funding system”. They even demand in the future at least 10,500 euros per year for each refugee, with the joint government willing to pay only 5,000 euros.

The list of requests with which the states come to the chancellery also includes the acceleration of the construction of new accommodation for refugees, with the possible introduction of changes to the current urban planning legislation.

What does the official opposition propose?

A few days ago and ahead of the government-state conference, Olaf Solz had the head of the Christian Democrats Friedrich Merz and the head of the parliamentary group of the Christian Socialists Alexander Dobrid for a working lunch at the chancellery.

Although the content of the discussions remained secret, it is known that the Christian Union parties recently presented a 26-point document on tightening asylum rules and limiting immigration to Germany.

Among other things, they propose a cap on the annual number of asylum seekers in Germany, setting it at 200,000, provoking objections from immigration experts. They are also in favor of speeding up asylum procedures and deportations for new arrivals with less than a 5% chance of being granted asylum in Germany.

They also support the expansion of the list of “safe countries of origin” to include North African countries such as Algeria, Tunisia or Morocco, while finally they seem to agree with Secretary of the Interior Nancy Feser regarding the introduction and establishment of permanent border controls.