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Should German public continue to pay for Covid-19 tests?

In a bid to stem the rise in Covid-19 infection rates, politicians are ramping up the pressure on those who have not yet been vaccinated. Two of the candidates to become the next chancellor of Germany -- Armin Laschet and Olaf Scholz -- want to see an end to free Covid tests for everybody from this autumn.

Should German public continue to pay for Covid-19 tests?
Only those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or who have recovered from it will be able to enter the FC Köln stadium soon. Rolf VENNENBERND / POOL / AFP

The CDU/CSU and SPD candidates for chancellor, Armin Laschet and Olaf Scholz, respectively, are both in favour of charging for coronavirus tests from autumn onwards, they told the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Sunday.

Scholz said: “It is important to me that those who do not want to be vaccinated continue to have the opportunity to take part in public life by taking a test.” However, the general public will not pay for these tests “in the long term”.

“I think that in autumn all adults without a health reason for not being vaccinated will have to pay for them,” he said.

Less than two months before the federal election, the two candidates have similar views on this key issue in dealing with the pandemic. On Tuesday, the premiers of Germany’s 16 federal states are due to meet to discuss how to deal with the country’s rising infection rates and concerns about a fourth wave.  

CDU president Armin Laschet told Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag earlier that he was against putting people who tested negative for the coronavirus at a disadvantage to those who had been vaccinated.

“The state must not exclude those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested from participating in social life,” said Laschet. The “3-G rule” (geimpft, getestet, genesen or vaccinated, tested, recovered) has “proven to be sensible, measured and feasible”.

READ ALSO: German chancellor candidate Laschet loses favour with voters: poll

But from autumn onwards, anyone who has not been vaccinated should expect “that the daily tests will no longer be paid for by taxpayers”. However, Scholz said that “tested” should remain an option in addition to “vaccinated” and “recovered”.

Laschet’s party colleague, Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus, took a tougher line, telling Sunday paper Die Welt am Sonntag that he didn’t think unvaccinated people who had been tested would still be granted the same rights for much longer.

He thought this would work itself out naturally in the autumn “because hotels, clubs and event organisers will say: Sorry, if you’ve only got a test, you can’t come in “.

First-division German football club FC Köln is likely to fuel this debate because they have said they will only allow spectators who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or who have recovered from the virus into the stadium from the end of August.

Brinkhaus said: “I think the pressure from the vaccinated part of the population will increase enormously. And that is completely understandable.”

However, not all parties agree. Stephan Thomae, FDP deputy chair, told the SZ: “Politicians shouldn’t just leave the decision to entrepreneurs and traders.”

He also said he thought it was a mistake to charge for Covid-19 tests as they were still too important in the fight against the pandemic to create any obstacles. Co-chair of the Green party Robert Habeck said on German TV channel ZDF that he was in favour of them staying free.

Scholz, Germany”s Vice-Chancellor, said he hoped that, thanks to the vaccinations, the country would get through the autumn and winter better this time.

“There shouldn’t be another lockdown,” he told the SZ, adding that face-to-face teaching in schools had “top priority”.

 

Member comments

  1. How about Covid vaccination charges? I got hit up for around about €250 by my doctor for me and my wife´s 2 visits to get vaccinated. Is this even legal? It´s supposed to be a Bundeswide free vaccination program. We are privately insured, but after entering the doctors bill the Health insurance assured me we have been wrongly charged and refused to pay….-

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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

Foreigners in Germany are waiting on tenterhooks for the introduction of the new dual nationality law on Thursday - but the centre-right CDU and CSU say they would overturn the reform if re-elected next year.

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

“The CDU and CSU will reverse this unsuccessful reform,” Alexander Throm (CDU), spokesperson on domestic policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told DPA on Tuesday.

“Dual citizenship must remain the exception and be limited to countries that share our values.”

Throm also criticised the new citizenship law for reducing the amount of time foreigners need to live in the country before naturalising as Germans, describing the new residence requirements as “far too short”.

“After five or even three years, it is not yet possible to determine with certainty whether integration has been successful in the long term,” he stated.

“The recent caliphate demonstrations and the rampant Islamist extremism, often by people with German passports, must be a wake-up call for us all.”

READ ALSO: Which foreign residents are likely to become German after citizenship law change?

Despite vociferous opposition, the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party (CSU) was powerless to stop the traffic-light coalition’s citizenship reform passing in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat earlier this year. 

The reform, which permits the holding of multiple passports, lowers residence requirements and removes language hurdles for certain groups, is set to come into force on June 27th. 

But with the CDU and CSU emerging as clear winners in the recent EU parliamentary elections and regularly landing on 30 percent or above in the polls, it’s possible that the party could be on course to re-enter government next year. 

In this situation, the centre-right parties have pledged to try and undo what senior CDU politicians have described as a “dangerous” reform.

“It is not unusual for successive governments to reverse decisions made by the previous government,” Andrea Lindholz, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said in a recent response to a question

“We will maintain our position on this and will continue to strive for a corresponding change.”

READ ALSO: What are citizenship offices around Germany doing to prepare for the new law?

Whether the CDU and CSU can secure enough votes at both state and federal elections to change the law in the future remains to be seen.

The parties may also have to compromise on their plans with any future coalition partner, such as the Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) or Free Democrats (FDP), all of whom support liberal immigration laws and the holding of multiple nationalities. 

‘Citizenship devaluation law’

The CDU and CSU parties, which form a centre-right alliance nicknamed the Union, have long been opposed to dual nationality in Germany.

During their years of governing in a so-called grand coalition with the centre-right Social Democrats (SPD), the parties had regularly made reforms of citizenship one of their red lines, citing the danger of hostile nations influencing Germany from within. 

In a recent parliamentary speech back in January, Throm had slammed the bill as a “citizenship devaluation law” and accused the government of trying to generate a new electorate to win votes.

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

In comments aimed primarily at Germany’s large Turkish diaspora, the CDU politician claimed that people who had lived in Germany for decades but not taken German citizenship had already chosen their old country over Germany.

The majority of Turks in Germany are also supporters of the authoritarian president Recep Erdogan, he argued.

Responding to the claims, FDP migration expert Ann-Veruschka Jurisch said the opposition was fuelling resentments against migrants by claiming the government was “squandering German citizenship”.

In fact, she argued, the reform has tightened up requirements by ensuring that people who claim benefits and cannot support themselves are unable to become German citizens.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany’s citizenship law reform

In addition, the B1 language requirements have only been softened in a few exceptional cases, for example to honour the lifetime achievements of the guest worker generation who had few opportunities when they arrived, Jurisch said. 

If foreigners have committed crimes, the authorities will be able to investigate whether these involved racist or anti-Semitic motives before citizenship is granted, she added. 

With reporting by DPA

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