As of: February 19, 2024, 4:45 a.m
By: Mark Stoffers
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Press
Split
There are rumblings again in the government.
The SPD and FDP make serious accusations about Habeck's payment card for refugees.
Kubicki threatens to end the traffic lights.
Berlin – The payment card for asylum seekers and refugees seems to be creating new fuel for the traffic light coalition before it is passed next week.
Because actually everything seemed to be dry.
At the end of January, 14 of 16 federal states agreed on a joint procurement process to introduce a payment card for asylum seekers.
Payment card for asylum seekers: SPD accuses Habeck and the Greens of blockade
The negotiated introduction of cashless services should be passed in the Bundestag next week.
But this could now fail because the Greens appear to be standing in the way.
The SPD particularly accuses Economics Minister Robert Habeck of blocking the process.
The responsible Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has provided a wording of the law that is ready for decision.
“Unfortunately, for incomprehensible reasons, this is being blocked by Robert Habeck in the Green Ministry of Economic Affairs,” the
Tagesspiegel
quotes the domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann.
Payment card for refugees: The FDP also blames the Greens
Habeck's ministry would refer to individual state decisions, but Hartmann makes it clear that in the case of the payment card it is about a nationwide framework.
But it's not just the Social Democrats who are demanding that Habeck and his ministry finally give up their stance on payment cards for refugees, the other partner from the traffic light coalition also doesn't hold back in their criticism.
The SPD, but also the FDP, criticize a possible blockade by Economics Minister Habeck and his ministry.
© Tim Riediger/nordpool/Imago
“If all three coalition partners want, a corresponding regulation can be quickly decided by the Bundestag,” emphasized the deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Konstantin Kuhle in the
Tagesspiegel
.
So if you consider the SPD's position on the payment card for asylum seekers, this statement can only be aimed at the Greens.
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Payment card for refugees: Kubicki makes a clear announcement to the Greens – threatening to break the traffic light coalition
But while Kuhle formulated cautious or rather indirect criticism, Wolfgang Kubicki's statements left no doubt that the slow progress on the payment card for refugees could have dangerous effects on the cohesion of the traffic light coalition.
The FDP parliamentary group deputy even threatens far-reaching consequences.
“If the Greens actually torpedo this minimally invasive intervention in the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, it will question the continuation of the coalition.
“They are contributing to more and more people turning away from the federal government’s policies and having doubts about the problem-solving skills of democratic institutions,” said Kubicki at
Bild
.
Dispute over the payment card for asylum seekers: Blockade by the Greens comes at a bad time for Kubicki
According to information from
Bild
, the Greens are apparently standing in the way because, in return for their approval of the payment card for refugees, they are demanding a revision of the reporting requirement for refugees without a passport.
So that they can, for example, go to the doctor without fear of being deported.
In Kubicki's opinion, another traffic light quarrel, which the Greens' blockade on the introduction of payment cards for asylum seekers would inevitably represent, would also be of little benefit to the upcoming state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg this year.
“If you want to win the fight against the right, you shouldn’t behave like that,” Kubicki made clear.
Pilot projects for payment cards for refugees have already started
The federal government and federal states had already agreed on the payment card for refugees in November: With this, asylum seekers in Germany will in future receive a reloadable payment card instead of cash so that they can, among other things, shop.
In addition, it should also serve the purpose of reducing the incentives for illegal migration and preventing refugees from making transfers to their home countries.
A point why many representatives of the Green Party speak out against it because they consider the payment card to be discriminatory.
Meanwhile, even before the official vote in the Bundestag, pilot projects for payment cards for refugees have already started in Hamburg, among others.
There are also corresponding projects for payment cards for asylum seekers in Bavaria.
But CSU boss Markus Söder recently announced that “our payment card is tougher”.