Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser tuned their violins this weekend. The two Social Democratic leaders have confirmed that they are preparing a reform of naturalization with their environmentalist and liberal partners.
“The women and men, and sometimes also children, who have come to Germany have made a significant contribution to our economy being as strong as it is today,” commented the chancellor in his weekly video. “Germany needs better regulations for the naturalization of all these great men and all these great women”, he added. The next day, Nancy Faeser detailed the content of her draft bill to the Berlin daily daily mirror.
Accelerated procedures
Berlin thus plans to reduce from eight to five years the length of stay necessary to apply for nationality. In the event of particularly successful integration – for people who have mastered the language or have very good academic or professional performance – naturalization may even be obtained after three years instead of the current five. Foreigners who have come to work since the 1960s under agreements signed with states, such as Greece, Turkey or Italy, could also be exempted from written language tests.
“They have contributed in an exceptional way to the success of our country and deserve the recognition of the whole of society”, Judge Nancy Faeser, who also recalls the absence of integration measures at the time for these employees. Finally, dual nationality, currently mainly authorized for European citizens, will be extended to countries such as Turkey. A “paradigm shift” which, according to Nancy Faeser, will promote democratic participation and integration.
“Attracting the brightest minds”
Behind these arguments there are also economic interests, as the daily reminds us. Taz close to environmentalists. “It’s not about a good deed but about making the country attractive”, writes this diary. An opinion confirmed by Marcel Fratzscher, director of the DIW Institute for Economic Studies in Berlin, who recalls in the local press “increasing competition” to which Westerners indulge to “attracting the brightest minds”. “Giving a clear perspective on obtaining citizenship is an important part of making Germany more attractive to foreign skilled workers,” he recalls.
On the side of the Christian Democratic opposition (CDU / CSU), on the other hand, we are up against the wind. In the pages of the tabloid BildMP Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) accuses the government of “sell German nationality”and create “an additional breath of fresh air in terms of illegal immigration”. The project also arouses opposition among certain liberals whose party has nevertheless approved this reform in the coalition agreement. The general secretary of the FDP, Bijan Djir-Sarai, believes that this text does not arrive ” at the right time “ and regrets that no progress has been made in the fight against illegal immigration. Words that reveal, once again, the tensions within the coalition government that took office barely a year ago.