Today it is about the approaching corona lockdown before or after Christmas, what will probably be the last EU summit under the German Council Presidency and the menu sequence of the Brexit dinner by Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson.
The hard lockdown is coming - only when?
The reins are tightened again, that much is certain: schools are closed, maybe a ban on alcohol on the street or even curfews at night.
In the meantime, the heads of government of those countries that have not yet been hit so hard by the second corona wave - Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - are pleading for tightening the previously applicable measures in the fight against the virus.
The lockdown light, which has been in place since the beginning of November, has not changed the number of infections.
Icon: enlarge
Pedestrian zone in Duisburg
Photo: Olaf Döring / imago images / Olaf Döring
The only questions are: When will the hard lockdown come?
How hard is it getting?
And how long does it last?
There will probably be answers this week, and the Prime Ministers will probably talk to the Chancellor on Sunday.
Angela Merkel
once again urged the Bundestag on Wednesday that something had to happen.
Merkel has rarely been seen so emotionally at the lectern, the observers agree.
Almost pleadingly, she appealed to people to take responsibility for themselves, while at the same time their calls for extended vacations, business closings and other contact restrictions made it clear that she does not want to rely on personal responsibility alone.
Both are also an admission of their own failure:
Politicians have no real strategy against the virus.
Pretty unprepared, she ran into the second wave.
With the November shutdown, the federal and state governments relied on the principle of hope.
But the hope was not fulfilled, and the extension did not have the desired effect.
In the meantime, people regret the promised Christmas and New Year exceptions, and are gradually turning them back.
Now a
hard lockdown
is supposed to
depress the infection numbers - according to the old Christmas motto: But this time we're not giving each other anything.
Will that work?
Maybe, temporarily.
But the winter is still long, the virus stubborn, the vaccine scarce for the time being.
The vaccine, it is perhaps the only sustainable strategy against this pandemic.
And politics didn't invent that.
On Thursday morning, the Robert Koch Institute will again provide information about the current situation - it should provide new arguments for an early tightening of the measures.
In addition, the education ministers of the federal states meet in the afternoon.
Then it will also be a question of whether an extension of the Christmas holidays is justifiable from your point of view.
Pandemic in Germany: Why are the corona numbers so much higher in the south than in the north?
Hostility ends with money
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Angela Merkel, Viktor Orbán
Photo: Olivier Hoslet / dpa
On Thursday, the 27 heads of state and government will meet in Brussels for what is likely to be the
last EU summit of this year
.
And it looks very much as if Angela Merkel could bring her six-month Council Presidency to a proper end - if her colleagues agree to the compromise that Germany
negotiated
at the last minute in the tiresome budget dispute with the unruly
Hungarians and Poles
.
They wanted to
block
the next
seven-year budget
and the
Corona aid package in
order
to prevent
the planned
rule of law
mechanism
.
With this mechanism, the EU should in future be able to cut funds to member states if they violate the rule of law.
Now Hungary and Poland should be able to make an "interpretative declaration" on this.
It is not legally binding, but above all it will ensure that the mechanism is not applied so quickly - only after the European Court of Justice has checked its legality.
That could take a while, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would probably have nothing to fear at home until the next election in 2022.
That is important to him.
After all, the mechanism as such remains untouched.
The ultimatum of the German Council Presidency to Poland and Hungary is likely to have had
an
effect:
no compromise, no coal.
According to the threat, the € 750 billion corona reconstruction package could also be divided among 25 members.
There was also a massive cut in funding.
Suddenly the stubborn showed themselves to be flexible again.
When it comes to money, hostility ends in the EU.
The fact that the Hungarians are now celebrating their »victory« should be taken calmly in Berlin and Brussels.
Dispute over EU budget: this is how Europe fights Hungary and Poland
Brexit decision in four days?
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Ursula von der Leyen, Boris Johnson
Photo: Olivier Hoslet / AP
It should have been "lively", the joint Brexit dinner of
Ursula von der Leyen
and
Boris Johnson
.
After all.
As expected, the EU Commission chief and the British prime minister did not reach an agreement in the struggle for a Brexit deal in the “food fight” (“The Sun”).
The positions were still far apart, both camps then let know.
The chefs at the Commission's headquarters in Brussels did everything they can to symbolically charge the dinner.
As a starter there was pumpkin soup with scallops - possibly as a little reminder of how British and French fishermen once attacked each other in the fight for the mussel fishing grounds on the high seas.
The main course then: steamed turbot, mashed potatoes with wasabi and vegetables.
Turbot is common in waters off the UK coast, and whether European fishermen will still have access to those waters when the
post-Brexit transition
ends at the end of the year is one of the points of contention in trade talks.
This morning the teams on both sides are supposed to continue negotiating until Sunday, von der Leyen and the British government have now announced that they want to come to a "decision".
It cannot be ruled out that this decision means that you give yourself a few more days.
Brexit negotiations: Merkel's guilt, Merkel's chance
A request…
... on
my
own behalf:
My colleagues from the video department don't just want to look back on the year negatively, even if good news was rare.
Hence the following request from my colleague Andreas Evelt: »Which personal memories are you taking with you from 2020?
Feel free to send a video statement (landscape format, maximum 30 seconds). «His address: andreas.evelt@spiegel.de.
"And if you still want to get rid of something: If you could really express your opinion again for 2020 - what would you say?" (Also in the video by email, maximum ten seconds).
In Andis and in my name: Thank you for taking part!
The latest news from the night
USA reports more than 3,000 corona deaths within 24 hours:
The United States has reached a new, sad high: In one day, more than 3,000 deaths were counted after a Covid disease.
The hospitals are also reaching their limits
SpaceX rocket explodes on landing - Elon Musk is nevertheless satisfied: The
fault was probably a problem with the fuel system: In Texas, a SpaceX test rocket went up in flames.
Company founder Elon Musk was relaxed on Twitter despite the setback
"We have to put the virus on the lid":
Virologist Melanie Brinkmann and Health Minister Jens Spahn agree on "Maischberger": Lockdown light is not enough.
The impression that politics followed the experts hardly arose
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I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Philipp Wittrock
