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GERMANY

Italians top Germany jobless benefits ranking

Italy has a total of 66,458 citizens on jobless benefits in Germany – higher than the EU’s ten Eastern European members as well as the crisis-hit nations of Portugal, Greece and Spain.

Italians top Germany jobless benefits ranking
Demonstrators protest against EU-wide youth unemployment in Berlin last year. Photo: DPA

More migrants from countries hit by the Euro crisis and from Eastern Europe are receiving German Hartz IV payments than ever before, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday.

In April this group topped 300,000 for the first time – a rise of 21.6 percent over the same month last year. The paper cited as yet unpublished figures from Germany’s Federal Labour Office (BfA).

Just under 4.5 million people receive jobless benefits in Germany.

The paper looked at 14 EU countries – the ten Eastern European members as well as crisis nations Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain. Italy had the highest number of citizens on jobless benefits – with a total of 66,458 – closely followed by Poland, Greece and Bulgaria.

SEE ALSO: Italians flock to become German citizens

The German government plans move to tighten rules for EU immigrants in the next legislative period.

Harsher punishments are being considered for those found abusing the German benefits system – including expelling people from the country in extreme cases and refusing them re-entry.

Other new rules may include limiting EU citizens to a six month initial stay in Germany to search for work, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said on Tuesday.

The figures come two months after the advocate general of the European Court of Justice suggested Germany would be allowed to reject applications for Hartz IV from foreigners from other EU countries to prevent abuse of the system and “welfare tourism” in an ongoing court case.

However statistics released in honour of World Youth Day show that unemployment amongst workers under 25 is lowest in Germany at 7.8 percent. These are the lowest figures the BfA has ever recorded.

"This is a testament to the dual vocational training system," said BfA chairman Frank-J. Weise. "It eases the transition for young people into their working years and is a solid foundation for their career path."

The European-wide youth unemployment is at 22.2 percent.

Youth are hardest pressed in Greece and Spain, with unemployment in those countries in the under 25 population topping 50 percent. Still, the current youth unemployment rate in the EU has improved by more than eight percent.  

This article originally appeared on The Local Germany.

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GERMANY

Germany cracks down on fake Covid vaccine documents

German police have set up a special team to fight a growing number of forged vaccine certificates being sold in the black market

Germany cracks down on fake Covid vaccine documents
People who are fully vaccinated can show their vaccination booklet, which has a stamp and a sticker inside. Photo: Ina FASSBENDER / AFP

Police in Cologne have warned of a group of fraudsters selling fake vaccination certificates, a growing problem the scale of which is still unclear.

The police said the fraudsters worked in encrypted Telegram chats, making investigations difficult, and were selling fake documents with all the stamps and signatures, including a mark about vaccination with BioNTech or AstraZeneca.

READ ALSO: Germany probes Covid-19 testing centres for fraud

The fraud involved both real traffic in fake documents as well as scams luring customers into paying €100.

People in Germany who are fully vaccinated can show their vaccination booklet, which has a stamp and a sticker inside. Those who don’t have a booklet get a piece of paper.

Covid health passes are currently being rolled out across the EU, with a European health passport expected to be available from mid-June.

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on how the EU’s ‘Covid passports’ will work for travellers?

Over 44% of the adult population in Germany has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and more than 18% of Germans have been fully vaccinated.

German police have said forged coronavirus vaccine documents are becoming an increasing problem.

Last month, a couple in Baden-Württemberg was accused of selling fake coronavirus vaccination certificates.

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