EU Immigration Plans Arouse Debate in Germany

Ahead of the three-day European Union summit near Thessaloniki, Greece, which started Thursday night, the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) called on Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder not to agree to the EU's immigration policy plans, the first item on the meeting's agenda. The parliamentary business manager for the Greens, the Social Democratic Party's junior partner in government, Volker Beck, however said that Germany should not topple the directive.

The proposal by Greece, which currently chairs the EU Council, to harmonize immigration and asylum policy within the EU requires unanimous approval in order to come into force.

Earlier this week, the CSU's chairman and premier of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, had threatened to block ratification of the EU constitution if a provision in the draft takes effect. The clause would give the EU more competencies in the field of immigration and make changes possible by majority voting.

In an interview with the Financial Times Deutschland published on Monday, Stoiber said: "EU majority voting will give asylum seekers access to labor markets through the back door. This is not acceptable from a German point of view. All things unchanged, we will not approve this in the Bundesrat and Bundestag [parliamentary chambers]."

In a letter to Angela Merkel, chairman of the CSU's sister party, the CDU, Stoiber also claimed that the constitution would delegate too many competencies to the EU that should remain under national sovereignty, for example in the area of economic and social policy. The letter sparked a conflict within the CDU/CSU about the draft constitution because the CDU had taken a favorable stance.

Critics argue that Stoiber made his claims in anticipation of state elections in September, when he will stand for reelection. Another CSU representative, Bavaria's minister for European affairs, Reinhold Bocklet, accused the CDU of making its sister party look obstructive. He said in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung's Wednesday edition that Merkel had published the letter that was only intended for her eyes.

All the other states' European ministers approved the draft constitution after a conference in Berlin on Wednesday, in which Bavaria abstained.

Merkel and Stoiber will convene on Friday to find a common stance on the European constitution. The Bundesrat, the chamber of state representatives, in which the CDU/ CSU has a majority, is expected to block an immigration law drafted by the government the same day.

Meanwhile, Schröder confirmed his consent to the EU constitution, saying "It wouldn't make any sense to reconsider the EU convention's draft constitution again." He also said he hoped that the ratification process will soon be concluded.

The EU constitution would give Germany considerably more weight in EU decision-making because it extends the voting power of populous states. Schröder also wants to extend majority voting to foreign and defense policy.

A day before the summit Schröder reiterated his conviction that Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer would be a suitable candidate for the newly created position of EU foreign minister. In an interview with Passauer Neue Presse he said that Fischer's qualifications would meet the position's requirements "without any problem."