German Immigration Talks to Include Security Concerns

For more than four years, the governing coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens has struggled to reach a compromise with the conservative opposition of Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the CSU on sweeping new immigration legislation. The new rules would help ensure the labor force has enough qualified workers as the German population shrinks in the coming decades.

But following the attacks in Madrid, the CDU further complicated the debate by making their final approval of the law contingent on the introduction of stronger measures to combat international terrorism. Hoping to wrap up negotiations before Easter, Schily has now signaled his willingness to cede to conservative demands, though he has yet to give any specifics.

Security a sticking point

Before Sunday's meeting of the special parliamentary working group designated with the task of hammering out a compromise, Schily said that both sides were in "complete agreement" over the need for better security. "No one can defend the admittance of a person to Germany who has spent time in an al Qaeda training camp, even if there's no new evidence that he's planning an attack," he said.

Schily agreed that stronger measures should be put in place to combat terrorism, but did not indicate whether these would be added into the new immigration law or be presented in separate legislation. Schily is expected to give specifics on Wednesday, when the group meets for another round of negotiations. Günther Beckstein, the CSU interior minister of Bavaria, however, told a German radio program Deutschlandfunk on Monday that the issue should be addressed in the immigration law, because "that's where it belongs".

After the terrorist bombings in Madrid, the opposition Christian Democrats made their approval of the new immigration law contingent on the inclusion of stronger security measures. They introduced their own brief on the topic with 27 proposals, including making it easier to deport foreigners who are merely suspected of participating in terrorist activities. The legal aspects of such legislation may draw criticism from civil liberties activists.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

With Schily's willingness to near the conservative position on security concerns and other recent compromises, including an agreement on the immigration of skilled laborers and the right of return for ethnic Germans from former east-block countries, an atmosphere of optimism has returned. Peter Müller, the CDU Saarland premier who is in the parliamentary working group, said he can "see the light at the end of the tunnel".

Still, official guesses vary as to whether the long-running legislative saga will finally come to a close. Dieter Wiefelspütz, an SPD representative to the committee, said the chances of a compromise stood at about 75 to 80 percent, while Beckstein said it was more likely -- 55 percent more likely -- that efforts to reach a final compromise would fail.

The SPD's junior partner the Greens could also torpedo the talks, if they feel their priorities are being sacrificed to appease the conservatives. Top Greens negotiator Volker Beck has repeatedly said his party preferred no law to what Greens considered a bad law.

But Schily told reporters it was time to put an end to the matter. "It has taken long enough and we have been talking about these issues long enough," he said. "We should not lose our big opportunity to reach an agreement."