It will take some time until the consequences of the flood disaster are halfway overcome.
The federal cabinet wants to help immediately with 400 million euros.
Then a construction fund worth billions will follow.
Berlin - One week after the flood disaster began, the federal government wants to launch emergency aid worth millions on this Wednesday.
This is intended to eliminate the worst damage to buildings and communal infrastructure and to bridge special emergencies.
In total, it is about 400 million euros, half of which is to be borne by the federal and state governments.
A construction fund worth billions is also planned.
A decision about the amount should only be made when the extent of the damage can be foreseen more precisely.
Merkel: Provide unbureaucratic support
The disaster, which now has more than 170 fatalities, is a topic in the Federal Cabinet for the first time.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) have already promised the flood victims unbureaucratic help.
"I hope that it will be a matter of days," said Merkel during a visit to Bad Münstereifel, which has been badly damaged.
Finance Minister Scholz promised in the "Rheinische Post": "The federal government will do everything to support all those affected quickly and as unbureaucratically as possible."
According to Prime Minister Armin Laschet, North Rhine-Westphalia will provide 200 million euros.
The federal government had promised to double the state aid, said the CDU / CSU candidate for chancellor on Tuesday evening in the ZDF “heute journal”.
Some municipalities have already started paying out cash.
Rhineland-Palatinate had previously decided on emergency aid of up to 3500 euros per household.
Bavaria wants to provide 50 million euros for flood victims in the Free State.
Debate over SMS alerts
Green chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock also spoke out in the RTL / ntv program "Frühstart" for an early payment of the aid. There should be a special session of the Bundestag so that those affected “do not have to wait for months”. FDP leader Christian Lindner called in the newspapers of the Funke media group for a construction fund in the billions as after the flood disaster in 2013.
There is now also a debate as to whether the population could be better protected with SMS alerts on cell phones.
The deputy FDP parliamentary group chairman Stephan Thomae told the “Bild” newspaper: “We need a passive system for civil protection that also warns without actively downloading an app.” In other countries, a system called Cell Broadcast is used for this purpose.
The left-wing MP Anke Domscheit-Berg spoke out in the editorial network Germany (RND) for the rapid introduction in Germany.
The federal government wants to relieve the federal states
The federal government also wants to exempt the states from the costs of rescue operations by the federal police, technical relief organization (THW) and civil protection.
They should also not be billed for Bundeswehr missions.
To deal with the damage, money from the EU Solidarity Fund should also be applied for.
The federal government currently expects damage of at least two billion to the roads alone and to Deutsche Bahn.
The cabinet also wants to adopt the first part of a new strategy for civil protection.
First of all, a “National Health Protection Reserve” is to be established.
In the medium term, however, provisions for crises such as floods and major fires are to be improved.
A joint federal and state crisis center is planned, in which aid organizations will also be involved.
Prevent bankruptcies
Insolvency administrators had also called for the bankruptcy obligation to be suspended in order to relieve companies.
The SPD right-wing politician Johannes Fechner emphasized that due to the flood, many companies had great difficulty in returning to normal operations quickly.
"If people have lost their belongings in the flood areas, they shouldn't also worry about their jobs."
Meanwhile, the President of the City Council, Burkhard Jung, warned against a centralization of competencies in disaster control.
“We warn against rash quick shots.
The federal structure with the different roles of federal, state and local authorities remains correct because disasters occur locally and have to be dealt with quickly, "said Jung of the" Rheinische Post ". Dpa