New traffic light dispute
Greens put the brakes on payment cards for refugees
February 17, 2024, 4:47 p.m
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From the Greens’ perspective, no nationwide changes to the law are necessary to introduce payment cards for asylum seekers across the board. The SPD accuses Habeck of a blockade, and the federal states are warning of a wave of lawsuits.
According to media reports, the Greens are refusing to support the legal adjustments agreed upon for the nationwide introduction of payment cards for asylum seekers. Planned changes, for example to the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, are now up for grabs, the “Bild” newspaper reported, citing coalition circles. The changes should therefore have been passed in the Bundestag next week. However, as of Friday evening, a corresponding item was not on the agenda for the next week’s meeting.
From the perspective of the federal states, there is a risk that the payment card cannot be introduced in a legally compliant manner in all cases and could trigger a wave of lawsuits, the newspaper continues. The domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann, told the “Tagesspiegel” that Robert Habeck’s Ministry of Economic Affairs was responsible for the blockade. This does not forward the text of the law to the traffic light groups. Hartmann emphasized: “We cannot complete the agreed project like this.”
The SPD politician appealed to the Greens to “participate in the implementation of the joint agreement instead of blocking it.” The FDP only indirectly blamed the Greens for the delay. “If all three coalition partners want, a corresponding regulation can be quickly decided by the Bundestag,” said parliamentary group vice-president Konstantin Kuhle to the “Tagesspiegel”.
Hamburg is already issuing the cards
The parliamentary manager of the Green parliamentary group, Irene Mihalic, told “Bild” that, in her opinion, there was no need for nationwide changes to the law for the payment card. This is shown, among other things, by the recent introduction of the card in Hamburg, which is governed by the red-green coalition. On Thursday, the Hanseatic city was the first federal state to announce that it had started issuing the card. Several other federal states also initiated the issue: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania recently started a corresponding EU-wide procurement process, and this is already underway in Bavaria.
The federal states had previously agreed on standards for the introduction of payment cards. With this, refugees should receive part of the benefits they are entitled to as credit instead of in cash according to uniform standards. The payment card should work without an account connection and can be used nationwide in all industries. However, it cannot be used abroad. Transfers should also not be possible.
FDP Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki has already threatened to leave the traffic light coalition early. “If the Greens actually torpedo this minimally invasive intervention in the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, it will question the continuation of the coalition,” he told “Bild”. With their blockade, the Greens would contribute to “more and more people turning away from the federal government’s policies and having doubts about the problem-solving skills of democratic institutions.”