Corona law of the traffic light in the Bundestag: Day of the decision - Union projects a "real hammer"?

Showdown in the German Bundestag: Parliament is discussing the Corona draft law by the traffic light coalition this Thursday.

There are strong headwinds from the CDU and CSU.

The news ticker.

• Corona law in the Bundestag

  : This Thursday (November 18th) the parliament is deliberating on the draft of the "traffic light" (

  see first report of November 17th

  ).

• Still-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), the rules do not go far enough, a central demand from Karl Lauterbach (SPD) should come.

• This

  news ticker on the corona legislative process in the Bundestag

  is updated regularly.

Update from November 18, 8:30 a.m.:

Federal Council President Bodo Ramelow (left) has sharply criticized the reservations of the Union-led federal states against the corona plans of the traffic light groups.

"What Mr. Wüst announces is quite a hammer," said the Thuringian Prime Minister to the

on Thursday.

Update from November 18, 8 a.m .:

Vote on Corona law in the Bundestag: Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU) said that the expiry of the epidemic emergency sends the “devastating political signal” that the situation is “no longer so bad” . But Germany is "probably facing the hardest weeks in the pandemic." His parliamentary group therefore wants to apply for an extension of the emergency during the vote in the Bundestag on Thursday morning.

NRW Prime Minister Wüst described the end of the epidemic emergency as "irresponsible" in a letter to Scholz. The Union countries could therefore not agree in the Bundesrat. The Union is currently involved in eight out of 16 state governments and could actually prevent an adoption in the Federal Council with its votes. For his part, Scholz emphasized that the new law presented by the SPD, Greens and FDP contained "very far-reaching measures". He referred to the planned stricter test obligation in nursing homes, to the future 3G rule at work and in public transport and to requirements for more home office again.

FDP leader Christian Lindner also defended the approach.

"The toolkit for fighting pandemics contains everything that was necessary and effective," he emphasized at an event by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".

This also applies to possible contact restrictions. Green boss Robert Habeck warned the Union of a blockade of the Infection Protection Act.

"I can only appeal to the Union not to evade the joint effort," said Habeck to the broadcasters RTL and NTV.

It could not be in the interests of the Union-led federal states to “revert to the state before the pandemic”.

Corona law in the news ticker: day of the decision?

Wüst railed: "Point we never wanted to get to"

Update from November 18, 7 a.m .:

The traffic light parties want to quickly create a legal basis for local conditions if the “epidemic situation of national scope” previously determined by the Bundestag expires on November 25. But there is criticism. North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) affirmed on Wednesday evening in the ARD “Tagesthemen”: “In this pandemic, we are so close to the point we never wanted to get to, namely that hospitals have to decide who is still being treated will, ”he said. You need a “full instrument kit” to protect people, said Wüst, who is chairman of the conference of prime ministers.

The Union is currently involved in 10 out of 16 state governments and could prevent approval with its votes in the Bundesrat. Wüst left open on Wednesday evening whether the Union will really block the legislative plans in the regional chamber. “We now want to wait and see what the Bundestag decides.” Greens boss Robert Habeck said on Wednesday evening in the “RTL Aktuell Spezial” program: “If this draft law is blocked in the Federal Council, we no longer have a legal national basis, then it will fall let's go back to the level before the pandemic. ”The number of infections is so high“ that it will be inevitable that in about 14 days the hospital system in Germany will be overloaded ”.

Update from November 18, 6:30 a.m.:

This Thursday, November 18, 9 a.m., the Bundestag is discussing the new Infection Protection Act.

Among other things, this provides for the 3G rule at work and on public transport.

In addition, the federal states are given the opportunity to maintain certain measures such as mask requirements and contact restrictions.

Without a change in the law, this would no longer be possible after the epidemic of national importance expired on November 25th.

Update from November 17, 11:20 p.m .:

CDU / CSU and Angela Merkel's Chancellery are submitting their own Corona resolution proposal * to the “traffic light” after the pandemic plans.

And she has the talent.

Corona law (Bundestag) in the ticker: "Traffic light" draft resolution from the SPD, Greens and FDP in focus

First report from November 17th:

Munich / Berlin - Germany looks spellbound on the Platz der Republik 1 in Berlin this Thursday (November 18th).

Here, where the German Bundestag is located, the parliament comes together to deliberate on the Corona draft law of the possible traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP.

Ultimately, in order to vote on the draft resolution of the three parliamentary groups of the (probably) future federal government in the readings.

There was plenty of criticism from the Union in advance: Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) * considers the current plans of the "traffic light" in the fight against the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic * to be insufficient.

Everything must be done to stop the exponential increase in the number of corona infections, said Merkel on Wednesday, according to information from the

at a hybrid meeting of the Union faction in the Bundestag.

Merkel is said to have said that what is currently being discussed by the traffic light parties is not sufficient for this.

Corona law (Bundestag) in the news ticker: Union and Angela Merkel put pressure on "traffic lights"

It was only in mid-November, but the situation was much more tense than it was before last winter, said the 67-year-old.

The Chancellor was further quoted as saying: “It worries me very much.

I would like to say something happier.

Unfortunately, I can't do that. ”The Bund-Länder-Round, i.e. the Corona summit, will also have to deal with the question of when to go beyond measures such as 2G - access only for convalescent and vaccinated people - this Thursday.

In the video: Corona - Merkel for a nationwide uniform threshold for hospitalization rates

After almost 33 months of pandemic, German politicians are once again refining the confusion of federal competencies on the most uniform corona rules possible - for retail, schools and day-care centers, the workplace, sport and gastronomy.

One thing was already considered certain a day before the debate in parliament: A central demand from SPD Corona expert Karl Lauterbach should come - namely a nationwide 2G rule * for almost all areas of public life.

Corona law (Bundestag) in the news ticker: Central demand from Karl Lauterbach (SPD) should come

"We have to rely on 2G wherever it is somehow possible", Lauterbach

had already told

the

at the beginning of November.

A few days later, when asked by the

, the Rhinelander added

: “The most important decision would now be to introduce the 2G regulation across the board and also to control it.

In my opinion, no measure has a similar meaning for the infection process, and I also don't understand why we hesitate for so long. ”Now politicians in Berlin obviously no longer want to hesitate to switch to the 2G rule *.

+

Corona expert of the SPD: Health politician Karl Lauterbach.

© IMAGO / Future Image

Follow the corona legislative process in the Bundestag this Thursday in the news ticker.

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