Germany is discussing a new lockdown. Is he coming and if so, how and when? On Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled on the legality of the federal emergency brake. Then this could be reactivated.
In normal times, the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court would have been interesting and important as usual – but it would probably not have played a major role in discussions at the bakery, at the kitchen table or on the street. When the judges announce their new verdict on Tuesday morning, things could be different. Or should it at least: Hardly a judge’s verdict should ever have interested so many people. It’s about the question of what a new lockdown might look like. Specifically, the judges will comment on the extent to which the “Federal Emergency Brake” was constitutional in the spring. This particularly concerns curfews and school closings.
The fact that there is a new lockdown in the room in view of the corona incidences and the omicron variant would have given the judgment enough attention. But around noon it became known that the prime ministers of the federal states wanted to join forces after the verdict had been pronounced in order to discuss how to proceed with Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor Olaf Scholz. It is possible that the federal and state governments will decide to reactivate the federal emergency brake – in accordance with the specifications from Karlsruhe. Among other things, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder had called for it.
With the emergency brake, it was regulated nationwide in the Infection Protection Act from April to June, from which corona threshold values certain contact restrictions and curfews should come into force. Specifically, the current proceedings concern nine constitutional complaints. Seven concern contact and exit restrictions, two more school closings. The federal emergency brake ran out at the end of June. The judgment is expected to clarify whether you can pull the emergency brake again in the same way or whether it needs to be changed.
Baerbock puts pressure on countries
Green leader Annalena Baerbock had already declared the constitutional court ruling on Sunday evening to be a turning point in the traffic light corona policy. “We have the Federal Constitutional Court judgment on Tuesday, then it will also be answered what would be possible with a view to the lockdown,” she said at “Anne Will”. Then you want to see whether the federal states have taken all measures that are possible according to the Infection Protection Act. “If we find out within a few days that the federal states are not doing that, we have to act,” said Baerbock. She emphasized that school closings should be the last thing to think about.
Some Union-led federal states such as North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria have not yet exhausted the possibilities of the new Infection Protection Act, to the chagrin of the traffic lights. For example, football matches are still played there in front of an audience. In particular, the derby between 1. FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach with 50,000 spectators on the weekend before last had raised eyebrows. The exuberant carnival hustle and bustle, tests back and forth, raised the question of whether those in Düsseldorf had actually not heard the warning shots that pretty much all the experts have been firing from all cylinders for days and weeks.
Several prime ministers had already called for a nationwide approach before the weekend. Although countries are responsible for fighting pandemics, they are struggling to single-handedly impose the toughest possible measures. This is hardly surprising: Unpopular resolutions can be better sold to the electorate if other state governments do the same. If everyone does the same thing, there is no alternative to the procedure. At the same time, many people lose track of things when something different applies everywhere.
MPK or new law?
For the traffic light, however, it is important that the countries make full use of the legal framework – on the one hand, of course, because everyone’s common goal is to reduce the number of infections. On the other hand, because the traffic light itself created the new Infection Protection Act. It was her first big project. So the question also arises: does what the traffic light has produced work? Baerbock’s statement could therefore be understood as a threat to the federal states: If you don’t do everything you can by the end of the week, the federal government will act for you. She left it open whether that would happen via a Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK) or a new law in the Bundestag. In any case, the conference call planned for Tuesday is not intended to replace an MPK – it is scheduled for December 9th.
If the federal emergency brake is to come back, the Infection Protection Act would have to be changed again – as in April this year. It would be the second amendment to the law in a short time – the latest amendments only came into force last week. Now the main thing is to make drastic measures such as a nationwide lockdown including curfews and school closings possible again. This could include contact restrictions everywhere in Germany not only from threshold values of 1000, but from a seven-day incidence of around 300 or 400. In addition, the countries could agree to cancel major events with an audience everywhere, for example in professional football. The problem with this: A new amendment to the law does not happen overnight. More time could be lost.
A return to the epidemic emergency of national scope would also be conceivable – but unlikely. Because they let the traffic lights run out because they did not consider them legally secure and they wanted to settle the pandemic fight in the Bundestag – that is why the Infection Protection Act was amended. This brought 3G in the workplace and other measures, but prohibited a comprehensive lockdown. Exit restrictions and the general closure of shops, schools or daycare centers are no longer possible. Above all, this was a concern of the FDP. The idea for this stems from late summer, when many still thought that the fourth wave would not be that bad. As a result, the corona management offered the traffic light an area of attack right from the start. Is it too slack for the fourth wave? Does the traffic light screw up its start before the actual start? Olaf Scholz tried to meet the impression at the weekend, when he announced on Twitterall that is necessary will be done.
With her threat, Baerbock was probably also trying to sweep up the pile of broken pieces that she herself had left with a statement on ARD last week – after that it looked as if the traffic lights were not doing everything necessary. Baerbock said they would see in ten days how to proceed. In view of the rapid development of the pandemic, this caused severe criticism. In the case of Anne Will, Baerbock said that she had never meant it that way and that the decision was not to be made in, but within ten days. This is exactly what is happening. Last week, however, she hadn’t said anything about the judgment of the Constitutional Court – the court only announced it after her interview. So it comes in handy. For the traffic lights and for the fight against the pandemic.