Wednesday October 27, 2021
With the expiry of the corona emergency
The SPD, FDP and Greens want a transitional rule by March
The determination of the epidemic situation enables the federal government and the states to order central corona measures without the consent of the parliaments. But at the end of November, the emergency should run out. The FDP, SPD and Greens are therefore planning a transitional arrangement for the winter.
In the debate about the future legal basis for corona measures such as mask and contact rules until winter, the SPD, Greens and FDP want to present joint proposals today. They are supposed to aim at an “orderly end” of the “epidemic situation of national importance” which the Bundestag has for the time being determined by the end of November. To comment on this in Berlin at 10 a.m. Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt, SPD parliamentary group vice Dirk Wiese and FDP parliamentary group manager Marco Buschmann.
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich had announced that the possible future partners of a traffic light coalition were under discussion about new regulations in the Infection Protection Act. These should enable the countries to react further to corona challenges. A further extension of the epidemic situation of national scope by three months is not targeted.
According to information from the editorial network in Germany, the key points provide for a transitional arrangement that will run until the end of March 2022. As “Business Insider” reported, citing circles of the traffic light coalition, this would be in force until March 20. This was also reported by the “Bild” newspaper, citing a draft paper. Accordingly, the transitional regulation is intended to enable the federal states to enforce certain protective measures even after the emergency has expired. This should be achieved by changing paragraph 28a of the Infection Protection Act. So far, there is an extensive catalog of possible protective rules up to exit and contact restrictions, all of which are linked to the determination of the pandemic emergency.
“State of emergency must not become a permanent state”
“The state of emergency must not become permanent. We have to come to a new normal, and that as quickly as possible,” said FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “The German Bundestag has to decide things again – and not the federal government with extensive authorization.” The federal states would have the opportunity “to react very precisely and moderately to regional infections”.
The “epidemic situation” was first established by the Bundestag in March 2020 and has been repeatedly extended by Parliament since then. The determination of the emergency enables the federal government and the state governments to order central corona measures in a simplified way without the consent of parliaments. If it is not extended again, according to the Infection Protection Act, the federal states still have the option of determining the need for further corona measures through their state parliaments, so that an expiry would not automatically mean the end of measures.
In the countries, however, there is a warning against a “patchwork quilt” and the associated lack of acceptance. The corona numbers in Germany have recently continued to rise. After a push by the executive minister of health, Jens Spahn, for the “epidemic situation” to expire, it was discussed controversially for days – especially because of the increasing number of infections. The CDU politician advocates an end to the “epidemic situation”, but insists on the necessary protective rules.