Enlarge image
Fans at Portugal's victory at the 2016 European Championships in Lisbon: There will be no scenes like this in Germany for the time being
Photo: imago sportfotodienst / imago / Xinhua
The dispute among the federal states about how to deal with major events has been postponed for the time being. According to SPIEGEL information, the prime ministers agreed on Thursday that a working group at the level of the heads of the state chancelleries should come to an agreement on the question of the uniform handling of large-scale events with a transnational character. These should then also take a decision.
The topic was probably the biggest point of contention at the conference of country leaders this Thursday.
The round has been meeting since the early afternoon, and Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) should also join them from 3 p.m.
Corona issues should not be the focus of the consultations.
In the routine coordination, the status of the digitalization of the administration and the energy transition in Germany are on the agenda.
Dealing with major events initially caused massive resentment among the federal states.
According to the dpa news agency, at least parts of the SPD-governed federal states called for clarification on the further procedure for major general events, but also with a view to the upcoming European football championship, when the state leaders voted.
However, the B-side, i.e. the Union-governed states and the Greens-led Baden-Württemberg, rejected this, according to the dpa, as did the Chancellery.
An agreement was extremely unlikely from the start.
SPD-led countries insist on framework conditions
According to reports, the SPD side would like basic framework conditions for spectators at large indoor and open-air events, depending on the incidence, the vaccination rate and a mandatory test and mask requirement.
In a joint press conference with the head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) held back on the topic of mass events on Thursday.
When asked whether folk festivals would be possible again in autumn, Spahn said that he couldn't foresee that yet.
Nevertheless, they would have decided from the start: "The last thing that will go again is party."
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had recently announced that around 14,000 spectators would be admitting around 14,000 spectators to the German national team's European Championship games.
The DFB team's first match against France will take place there on June 15th.
"The EM is a special situation," said Söder last week.
The prerequisite is that all viewers have tested negative and wear a mask.
Söder spoke of a stadium utilization of "up to 20 percent".
There is space for around 70,000 spectators in the arena.
fek / cte / flo / dpa
