More immigration, easier naturalizations - FDP puts pressure on Faeser

That's the thing with unity. The federal government has just tried to demonstrate at its ministerial meeting in Meseberg that it works together "collegially and well" (Finance Minister Christian Lindner), when the parliamentary group of his FDP comes together in Bremen - and explains to the two coalition partners SPD and Greens what to do now do is.

It's about profiling, especially before the upcoming state elections in Lower Saxony. The traffic light in Berlin doesn't matter to the FDP in this election. It's about getting into the state parliament somehow. The message from the Free Democrats in Bremen is therefore: Everything could go even better in the federal government. Namely, if the ministers of the other coalition partners would speed things up.

Konstantin Kuhle, Deputy Group Leader in the Bundestag, General Secretary of the Lower Saxony FDP and in this capacity currently busy in the election campaign, is putting pressure on Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) in particular. At the beginning of the week, Kuhle presented a legal opinion commissioned by his parliamentary group, which calls for an amendment to the Basic Law to reform civil protection and disaster control. The FDP wants to give the federal government more powers over the states - and is trying to urge the responsible, but not particularly convinced, Faeser to finally take action.

At the Bremen parliamentary group retreat, Kuhle is now following suit. In addition to the demands on the currently overriding issues of relief (the FDP is particularly insisting on inflation compensation by reducing the cold progression for 48 million taxpayers) and energy costs (the FDP wants to extend the operating times of nuclear power plants for at least two winters to "relax on the electricity market"), the parliamentary group discussed a position paper created under Kuhle's leadership. It is entitled "For a paradigm shift in immigration policy" and is available to WELT. This is also aimed primarily at Faeser.

The focus of the paper is immigration into the labor market. It is one of the greatest failures of politics, it says, “that our country does not have a clear framework for orderly immigration”. Germany is "in a global competition for workers, for which we are currently not well positioned". The labor shortage in this country is immense, so at airports, in the trades, in medium-sized companies, in gastronomy as well as in hospitals and nursing homes. "Germany has a problem with skilled workers," said parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr in Bremen.

Therefore, the FDP wants on the one hand "to make our country more attractive for workers from abroad" and on the other hand to prevent "the way into the German labor market being sought via the asylum system". An immigration policy therefore also includes "that people who come to us but have no right of residence have to leave Germany again".

In the federal government, the FDP wants to achieve that the so-called Blue Card for the immigration of highly qualified specialists will also include non-academic professions in the future: "The minimum salary that is currently required and is far too high must be adjusted to the average income." the legal migration of less qualified people from this region is made possible, extended and extended to other countries such as India, Nigeria, Gambia or the Maghreb countries.

As agreed in the coalition agreement, but not yet implemented by Faeser, the FDP parliamentary group continues to demand the introduction of an “opportunity card with a point system”. Because the urgently required job offer is a high hurdle for many workers from abroad, so-called potential immigration based on the model of Canada, New Zealand or Australia is needed.

Points are awarded based on a catalog of criteria, which includes completed or started vocational or academic training, a school qualification, years of professional experience, age or language skills. Holders of this opportunity card would then have one year to look for a job and would have to finance themselves during this time. "Immigration into the social systems is out of the question," it says.

The work on a third relief package would soon be completed, said Chancellor Scholz after the exam in Meseberg. Finance Minister Lindner announced "a massive package for relief across the board".

Source: WORLD

After all, immigration should not fail because of too much bureaucracy. It needs "a new mindset in the administration" - from the foreign representations to the Federal Employment Agency to the local immigration authorities as well as "the massive reduction of bureaucratic and language hurdles in the immigration process". The message to workers abroad must be "that controlled immigration into our country is desirable and welcome". This also includes "an attractive naturalization perspective" within the framework of a reformed nationality law as well as "the nationwide implementation of naturalization ceremonies using the symbols of the Federal Republic".

The paper should be decided on Thursday afternoon. The traffic light has "the responsibility to set this impulse," said parliamentary group Vice Kuhle WELT. "Therefore, an immigration law must be passed in the coming months that will lead to a paradigm shift." It remains to be seen to what extent Interior Minister Faeser will follow the FDP's ideas.

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