Merkel has interrupted her holiday to discuss immigration with Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the center-left Social Democrats, the Financial Times informs.
Merkel spokesman Georg Streiter has explained that the planned committee of senior officials would examine whether and how government departments could take action against abuses of welfare benefits by EU migrants.
The Chancellor’s intervention came after MEP Elmar Brok from her Christian Democrat party controversially called on politicians to consider having immigrants fingerprinted if they tried to make improper benefit claims.
- Germany's governing coalition is having a stormy debate over calls to toughen social welfare laws as the European labor markets open to Romanians and Bulgarians.
- On January 1, Romanians and Bulgarians received the right to work freely in all EU member states, seven years after joining the bloc.
- Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Spain and the UK are no longer allowed to bar citizens from the two countries from coming to work.
4/1/14
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Related:
EU-Sozialkommissar: „Auf Zuwanderung nicht mit Hysterie reagieren“
Zuwanderungsstreit in der Großen Koalition: Industrie warnt vor Wirtschaftsschäden...
Zuwanderung: Deutsche Industrie warnt Industrie will Zuwanderung....
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Switzerland extends labor restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians
UK Govt Attitude to Bulgarians, Romanians 'Categorically Unacceptable' ...
MEP Urges Strong Response to Campaign against Bulgarians, Romanians...
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Coalition Row: Merkel Tries to Defuse 'Poverty Immigration' Debate...
ReplyDeleteThe debate over "poverty migration" to Germany has escalated inside Chancellor Merkel's governing coalition this week, prompting her to step in and seek to calm fears as Bulgarians and Romanians gain access to the European labor market.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday indirectly entered into a debate within her governing coalition about controversial calls by conservatives to restrict welfare payments to immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania.
The calls -- which included the slogan "Those who commit fraud are out" and a suggested three-month ban on welfare payments for immigrants -- came in response to the Jan. 1 opening of European labor markets to residents of the two countries, which are among the European Union's poorest members.
It's a development that has sparked fears of an influx of "poverty migration" across Europe, one that has sparked debates in France, Britain, Germany and elswhere in the EU. And Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party to Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has taken the lead in warning against allowing these potential immigrants to benefit from the German social system, prompting criticism from their center-left coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD), plus accusations of right-wing populism from the opposition.
In reaction, Merkel, who was also previously criticized for her silence on the matter, telephoned her new vice chancellor and SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel to arrange the creation of a special committee for reviewing the issue during a cabinet meeting next Wednesday.
Freedom of Movement 'Essential' to Europe
But members of Merkel's CDU have also been stirring the populist debate, with European Parliamentarian Elmar Brok suggesting on Friday that immigrants be forced to have their fingerprints taken to prevent welfare fraud. "Immigrants who come to Germany only for unemployment welfare payments, child benefits and health insurance must be sent home quickly to their homelands," he told the tabloid daily Bild. ..................http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/coalition-conflict-merkel-tries-to-defuse-poverty-immigration-debate-a-941737.html
4/1/14
„Armutszuwanderung?!: “Jetzt spricht die APO....
ReplyDelete„Wer kommt, muss redlich sein“ oder „Wir brauchen eine Willkommenskultur“: Auf Handelsblatt Online streiten die Kolumnisten der APO-Reihe, Bernd Lucke und Christian Lindner, über den richtigen Umgang mit Zuwanderern.
eit Tagen debattiert Deutschland über die so genannte Armutsmigration – nun hat die EU-Kommission der Diskussion neue Nahrung geliefert. In einer Stellungnahme zu einem Verfahren vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof (EuGH) fordert Brüssel laut „Süddeutscher Zeitung“, Deutschland dürfe arbeitslosen Zuwanderern aus der EU nicht grundsätzlich Sozialleistungen verweigern. Der Ausschluss von EU-Zuwanderern von Hartz-IV-Leistungen ist demnach mit europäischem Recht nicht vereinbar.................http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/armutszuwanderung-jetzt-spricht-die-apo/9316440.html
10/1/14