Scholz cabinet

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Scholz government passed a gas rationing law, under the leadership of economy minister Robert Habeck (Greens).[13] In August 2022, a major expansion of the BAföG system of government grants and loans for students and trainees was introduced, fulfilling a key FDP government program plank.[14] The largest housing benefits reform since 1965 will come into effect on January 1, 2023, with the number of households entitled to receive the benefits increasing from 600,000 in 2022 to over 2 million in 2023, and the allowances for heating and cooling more than doubling. [15] The Traffic Light coalition also agreed on a major 200 billion Euro energy relief package in October 2022, to come into effect starting in January 2023 and running through mid-2024.[16] The government announced a gas price capping scheme called Gaspreisbremse for 2023.[17]

In response to alleged price-gouging and excess profits during the energy and inflation crisis of 2022-2023, the federal government gave the Federal Cartel Office sweeping new powers to investigate and rectify distortions of competition in July 2023. Specifically, action can be taken based upon distortions of competition in entire sectors, not just analysis of one individual company. New powers to order countermeasures, impose fines/confiscate illegal profits, and even break up entire companies. Furthermore, the Cartel Office must no longer prove anti-competitive behavior on the part of individual companies in the future, but should be able to take corrective action as soon as the market is disrupted. [18]

In August 2022, the Bundestag implemented Amendments to the Proof Act (Nachweisgesetz or NachwG), which implemented the EU Directive on Working Conditions. The amendments obligate employers to provide detailed information about working conditions to their employees, and employment contracts must explicitly state employment terms, conditions, and benefits. [19]

In October 2022, the minimum wage was increased to 12 Euros per hour, fulfilling a key SPD election campaign promise. [20] The Scholz government proposed a reform of unemployment payments, moving Germany from Hartz IV to a so-called Bürgergeld system.[21] Hartz IV was the unemployment benefits system implemented under SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2003 as part of the Agenda 2010 reform package; since 2018, the SPD has disowned the Hartz reforms and sought a new system that increases unemployment benefits and is less punitive towards the long-term unemployed, which the Bürgergeld system accomplishes.[22]

In its first year, the Scholz government introduced the 9-Euro-Ticket in summer 2022. The transport ministry, led by Volker Wissing (Free Democrats), failed to prepare an adequate plan to meet emissions reduction targets in the transport sector in summer 2022.[23] However, in October 2022, the federal government and the states agreed to implement a nationwide 49 Euro per month public transport ticket, which will apply to all local and regional transit across the country and eliminate the previous maze of tariff zones starting in 2023. The 49-Euro ticket came into effect on May 1st, 2023. [24]

In February 2022, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) announced a 1 billion Euro special fund to pay tax-free bonuses to eldercare and hospital staff who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic. 500 million Euros are earmarked for hospital staff and the other 500 million are for eldercare staff. [25]

Under health minister and medical professor Karl Lauterbach (Social Democrats), the vaccination ratio stagnated at 75% (as of August 2022).[26]

In June 2023, a major expansion of the long-term care was implemented. The reform increased allowances for at-home caregivers to between 332 – 946 Euros per month and introduced a new annual flexible budget for caregivers. To fund the estimated costs of 6.6 billion Euros per year, the payroll tax for long-term care was increased from 1.7% to 2.4% in a graduated scale based upon the number of children an employee has. [27]

In June 2022, the SPD, Greens, FDP, and Die Linke voted to repeal Paragraph Section 219a of the Criminal Code ("Strafgesetzbuch"), which outlawed the so-called "advertisement" of abortion services (a legal term). The paragraph had prohibited doctors from specifying online which kinds of abortion services they provide, and under what circumstances.[28]

In June 2023, new amendments strengthening hate crime legislation in the Criminal Code regarding sexual orientation and gender-specific crimes were introduced by Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and ratified by the Bundestag:

• Femicide will have harsher penalties, and new rules regarding identifying motives stemming from patriarchal claims of ownership and misogyny will be taken into account.
• Expansion of rehabilitation-focused treatment for those in need of treatment and willing to be treated. New focus on keeping violent offenders from using rehab centers as a way of getting out of stricter punishment, with the goal of taking pressure off of the rehab centers, and preventing dangerous addicted offenders from being released due to lack of treatment places.
• Reform of substitute prison sentences when fines are not paid to take pressure off the prison system. Determination of fines will also take into account the person's socioeconomic status (e.g. income, poverty, unemployment, homelessness or mental illness) to maintain proportionality. Fines can also be paid in installments and a substitute for unpaid community work will also be introduced.[29]

In 2022, more than 1.4 million refugees from Ukraine arrived in Germany, in addition to 244,000 asylum applications being filed. In 2022, over 28 billion Euros were spent on refugees and asylum seekers by the federal government; 15 billion Euros were given as aid to states and municipalities, while 13 billion Euros were spent as foreign aid). In the first four months of 2023, more than 101,000 asylum applications were filed, and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees estimated that asylum applications could exceed 300,000 in 2023.[30]

Municipal and state governments complained about strained budgets and accommodations, and demanded more support from the federal government. After a contentious summit between the states and federal government in May 2023, a reform of the asylum system was agreed to: 1 billion Euros in upfront emergency aid was provided to the states, modernization of IT systems to speed up application processing and tracking, renewed focus on deportations of rejected asylum seekers, and the number of days that rejected asylum seekers can be placed in preventative detention was increased from 10 days to 28 days. The federal government rejected demands for an automatic, flat-rate 1,000 Euro payment per refugee to municipalities, as well as rejecting new border controls. However, Scholz agreed to hold another summit in November 2023, when the results of the proposed Common European Asylum System will be announced. The German government says it supports the EU-wide proposal for asylum processing centers outside of European Union's borders.[31]

In 2022, Germany witnessed a 70% increase in attacks on refugee/asylum centers compared to 2021. According to ARD-DeutschlandTREND, 77% of Germans believe the federal government does not place enough importance on the problems created by migrants, and ARD-InfratestDimap shows that the issue of refugees and asylum seekers has jumped to the third most important issue amongst German voters, with 19% of respondents citing the issue as most important (climate change was rated as most important by 26%, followed by the Ukraine War at 25%). The renewed refugee and asylum wave coincides with a surge in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party.[32]

In June 2023, the government overhauled of Germany's immigration system. The new Skilled Workers' Act ("Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz") aims to greatly liberalize Germany's immigration rules for skilled and educated workers, and implements a points-based immigration system modeled upon Canada's immigration laws. The law also provides for faster processing of applications, faster and easier recognition of foreign degrees and work experience, introduces a new job seeker visa, lowers the minimum salary for EU Blue Card (from an annual pre-tax salary of 58,400 euros to 43,800 euros), makes it easier to change industries, introduces a new family reunification visa, and allows refugees/asylum seekers who entered before March 2023 to enter vocational training if qualified. The law was passed in July 2023.[33][34][35]

• Jobs must either meet a minimum salary threshold or be subject to a collective agreement before the Federal Employment Agency approves the visa application.
• The new points system takes into account qualifications, German language skills, previous professional experience, previous stays in Germany, age of the applicant, and the number of dependents coming with the applicant.
• Graduates from German universities/apprenticeships will automatically receive a 1-year "opportunity card" visa that allows them to stay in the country past their graduation date and enables part-time and trial work while looking for full-time work.
• Sectors deemed to have acute labor shortages will receive special attention for applications and processing, so long as the job offers are subject to fair pay, collective bargaining contracts, and compulsory social insurance coverage.
• The existing Western Balkans Regulations quota for workers will be doubled from 25,000 to 50,000 per year.

A loosening of citizenship and naturalization rules is scheduled for the second half of 2023.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Traffic Light coalition joined with the opposition CDU/CSU to pass a special 100 billion Euro package to finance a re-arming of the Bundeswehr, marking a radical break with the foreign policy of the past 70 years. The funds are to be used to purchase new fighter jets (including the F-35), armed drones, boats, submarines, combat vehicles, and personal equipment. 41 billion Euros are earmarked for the airforce, 19 billion for the navy, 17 billion for the ground forces, and 21 billion across all branches of the military for new communication technology and to counter the threat of cyberattacks.[36]

Deliveries of the Leopard I tank to Ukraine were approved in March 2023.[37] In July 2023, Scholz announced a long-term support package for the Ukrainian military worth 17 billion Euros, primarily weapons and lasting through 2027.[38]

Agriculture minister Cem Özdemir proposed a mandatory Animal Husbandry Label for animal products that are produced in Germany and also destined for sale in Germany.[39]

In May 2022, a new Kita Quality Act was passed, providing 4 billion Euros for childcare centers. The law requires that individual states use the funds to improve the quality of childcare and not merely reduce the fees paid by parents. The law also directs more support and attention to so called "language-daycare centers" ("Sprachkita"), which have a specialized focus on accelerated language acquisition and literacy from an early age. [40][41]

In August 2022, a large expansion of the BAföG student loan and grant system was undertaken, with greater eligibility based upon income and age, as well as direct payments increasing substantially. The reform is considered the first step in a program to expand the system and make support entirely independent of parental income. [42]

In June 2023, a new Continuing Education & Training Act was passed, with the goal of reforming and expanding Germany's apprenticeship system. The law implements an apprenticeship guarantee, expands and simplifies government funding for continuing education/training, introduces new funding (called “qualification money”) for workers who are threatened with redundancy due to structural change in their industry, mandates that trainees receive higher pay (equal to 60% of the equivalent full-time salary, or 67% if they have a child), and introduces a new vocational orientation for young people can have a test-period to try out the apprenticeship before actually deciding and starting. Support will be given for those who start training in another region of Germany and will receive a subsidy for two monthly trips back home, and anyone who cannot find an apprenticeship in their region is entitled to external training in a cooperation company and will receive monetary support. Training support in small and medium-sized businesses will be greatly expanded, and the qualification money requires a company-specific or sector-wide collective agreement, where an employer’s top-up in addition to the government support can be determined. [43]

In November 2022, the voting age for elections to the European Parliament was lowered from 18 to 16 via amendments to the European Elections Act. [44]

In March 2023, a controversial new election law was passed with the goal of shrinking the size of the German Bundestag. The New Elections Act permanently fixes the number of elected Bundestag members at 630 (down from 732 after the 2021 federal election), by eliminating so-called "overhang" and "compensation" seats. When calculating the number of seats a party has won in an election, priority is given to second vote over first vote, which means that candidates who have won in a directly-elected district will not be seated if doing so would increase their party's seat share beyond their proportional vote share. Furthermore, the 5% threshold for seats will not longer have an exemption for parties that win at least three-directly elected seats.

The law is seen as a necessary step by the SPD, Greens, and FDP to reduce the size of the parliament, which has progressively expanded in size from 603 seats in 2002 to 732 seats in 2021 due to increased political fragmentation, and creates problems for seating in the Bundestag, since the building is not designed for such large numbers of parliamentarians. The privileging of proportional seats over directly-elected seats is seen by the Christian Social Union as a direct attack on them, as they tend to dominate directly-elected seats in Bavaria, while the implementation of a hard 5% threshold is seen by Die Linke as a direct attack upon them, as in the 2021 federal election, Die Linke received 4.9% of the vote but were still awarded their share of proportional seats due to winning three directly-elected seats. [45]