The traffic light coalition still had a number of projects on the agenda, the implementation of which has now become questionable. Some legislative initiatives were actually quite far along in the parliamentary process. In the next few days it will become clear whether the Bundestag will decide on this at short notice. The Catholic News Agency (KNA) provides an overview of important open projects:

New asylum rules

In his statement after the traffic light went out, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) called the implementation of the new Common European Asylum System (CEAS) one of the most urgent projects. Germany wants to move quickly to motivate other European countries to also quickly implement the new EU rules. However, this is not mandatory, as there is actually two years to implement the rules decided in mid-May – i.e. until mid-2026. However, the Union could have an interest in this, as it has itself often enough pushed for a tougher approach to migration policy. So far there has been a cabinet decision on this.

Basic child protection

Basic child welfare has been stuck in the parliamentary process for a long time. It was originally intended to be the coalition’s largest social reform and to bundle support for children and make it easier to access. But because, according to the Family Ministry, several thousand new administrative positions would have had to be created, the number of critics grew. The draft budget recently said that there should at least be a relief package for families: child tax allowance, child benefit and immediate child allowance should be increased. But whether the budget will even be decided now is highly questionable.

Child protection

The aim of this federal government bill is to better protect children from sexual violence. In addition, the processing of abuse should be improved. The office of abuse commissioner should also be permanently secured and upgraded. Since the Union is fundamentally in favor of the draft law and the first reading in the Bundestag has already taken place, it is one of the projects that still has a chance of being passed.

pension

The Chancellor definitely wants to “get through” the so-called pension package II, approved by the cabinet in May. But it is more than questionable, because not only the Union is critical of the project, the FDP was also never entirely happy with it and recently positioned itself against it. According to the draft law, the pension level should be stable and at 48 percent by 2040. To finance this, an increase is necessary for contributors. In addition, a share pension is to be introduced afterwards.

abortion

The traffic light wanted to examine the regulations on abortion, egg donation and surrogacy and appointed a commission that presented its recommendations in the spring. The committee’s suggestions were particularly detailed when it came to abortion regulations. Abortion is currently fundamentally illegal. However, it remains unpunished if it is carried out in the first twelve weeks. The commission spoke out in favor of liberalization and the deletion of Section 218 in the Criminal Code. There is currently an interparty group in parliament that is pushing the project forward and wants to at least legalize abortion up to the twelfth week. But it has no realistic chance of getting on the Bundestag agenda. This also applies to a reform of egg donation and surrogacy, for which the Commission also proposed liberalization.

Organ donation and euthanasia

In view of the low number of organ donations in Germany, there is an intergroup proposal to switch from the current consent solution to an objection solution. Means: Everyone would be a donor unless they expressly reject it. However, the critics are loud here. There may therefore be a cross-party counterproposal. Then the topic would still be something for the Bundestag. And when it comes to assisted suicide, a move by several MPs from different factions cannot be ruled out, even without a government.

Hospital reform

The hospital reform is the most controversial major project of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). The current number of 1,900 clinic locations is to be significantly reduced – with higher quality and better financing. For this purpose, a transformation fund of 50 billion euros is planned, financed by the federal and state governments. The law has been passed in the Bundestag, but the Bundesrat could still call the Mediation Committee on November 22nd and thus put the whole thing on hold. It is currently unclear whether the necessary majority among the countries will come together.

Care

When it comes to care, the situation is very clear: despite the recent premium increase, the care insurance is running out of money at a rapid pace. From January onwards, the contribution rate should rise again by 0.2 percentage points if the Federal Council does not stand in the way. Meanwhile, the number of people in need of care is continually increasing and the number of nursing staff is decreasing. The Nursing Competence Act, which is intended to give nursing staff more powers, did not even make it to the cabinet.

State benefits

The churches receive a total of around 600 million euros annually from the federal states as compensation for the illegal expropriation and nationalization of church property 200 years ago. The traffic light pushed forward the project to replace state services and presented a draft to create the framework for this: the basic law. While the churches are open to this, numerous federal states are against it, among other things because they would have to pay high transfer fees running into billions. In addition, if this were to be eliminated, the churches would no longer be able to finance many social and educational institutions. This is also why the project has no chance of being implemented.

New memorial concept

Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) presented a new memorial concept. Colonialism, the history of the immigration society and the history of democracy should be included in the culture of remembrance. However, the draft received massive criticism from memorial managers and is likely to be on hold for the time being. (KNA)