Germany has to become more modern – right? The situation in the morning

Good morning, dear readers!

I think you agree to me when I say: Germany needs a modernization boost! Ail schools, exuberant and slow bureaucracy and then of course digitization that stutters like an old modem.

The “initiative for a state capable of acting” now attested that our country must urgently act. She stands by Julia Jäkel, media manager and supervisory board, ex-minister Thomas de Maizière and Peer Steinbrück as well as the former president of the Federal Constitutional Court, Andreas Voßkuhle.

On Monday they presented their Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. On 160 pages, they propose 35 concrete recommendations in the areas of administration, welfare state, migration, economy and security. In addition to digitization, infrastructure and defense ability are also causes. The initiators leave no doubt: Germany lags behind. “If only half of these projects were implemented, this country would be another country,” said Jäkel. And de Maiziere spoke of “good opportunities” of implementation – but only because the starting point is miserable.

The state has to change, the initiative demands. He should become faster, digital, more customer -friendly and more understandable. So far so good. But will the modernization of the inertia of the state apparatus or maybe the resistance of the citizens fail?

The 35 recommendations include loosening rules for data protection in Germany. But it is a holy cow for many in this country. State, authorities, tech companies and so on should not know what they mean, what you do, what you spend your money on or at which level you are at “Candycrush”.

If the government attacks data protection, threatening resistance and complaints. The sand in the gearbox would be for quick modernization.

On the other hand, as I wrote at the beginning, we need a more modern state. Not only to keep up internationally. But also because frustration and distrust of the state endanger our democracy. This was also emphasized by patron Steinmeier: “The more capable of our state, the greater the trust of the citizens in our community – and thus also in our democracy.”

Yes, the modernization of Germany is urgently needed and politicians are no longer allowed to postpone it. But: Are we as citizens in demand? If we want a state that works for us, do we not have to change our attitude? Not always the same loud “data protection !!!” Calling, not always rejecting newly reflexes or deme devil? And above all: don’t always see the disadvantages directly? What do you mean, dear readers?

It is a complicated legal case. Therefore, he has been employing the German judiciary for around ten years. And on Tuesday, a judgment could finally clarify the matter. It is about drones-not about Germans, but about American, but they are controlled by German soil. The Federal Constitutional Court now wants to decide whether Germany is jointly responsible for certain US drone operations abroad, since the US base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate serves as a redirection of data.

Two men from Yemen had sued. According to their own statements, they are witnesses of a drone attack in 2012 with several dead, including relatives in their home town. They demand: Germany should protect them from drone attacks and, if necessary, hold the United States.

The complainants rely on the right to life and physical integrity stipulated in the Basic Law. Germany violated its obligation to protect them, which also applies to foreigners abroad. The Federal Government denies an obligation to protect in the present case and rejects the allegations. The US drones would not be started, controlled or commanded from Germany, according to the argument.

Now it will be clarified whether Germany must also control compliance with international law compared to third countries if it maintains a base in Germany. Should the court agree with the plaintiffs, it could be a diplomatic cable dance for Germany if you have to take on the Trump government. Germany’s security and alliance-and NATO-depends largely on US troops on European and German soil.

Sometimes and like this: US President Donald Trump behaved like this towards Ukraine. Once the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj in the Oval Office is canceled-and now Trump wants to deliver patriot defense systems to Kiev about the detour of the European Union, probably out of frustration with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. But can you call that help? Or should we be glad that the USA will deliver anything at all? Stern Politics boss Jan Rosenkranz speaks about this with Marc Etzold, Star’s US Correspondent in our “5-Minuten-Talk”:

PFAS- per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, also called “eternal drivers”- are in clothing, packaging, cosmetics and dental floss. They accumulate in the environment, hardly decompose and get into our bodies. There they are suspected of being carcinogenic, disturbing the development of children and promoting obesity and diabetes.

A new from Great Britain now indicates that intestinal bacteria protect us from the PFAs. Researchers transplanted human intestinal bacteria into mice. The bacteria took up between 25 and 74 percent of all Pfas molecules ,. However, there is a catch in the investigation: the mechanism was not detected in the human intestine. Nevertheless, the study suggests that a strong intestinal flora better protects against Pfas.

How did he like this morning | star? Please write it to me: rune.weichert@stern.de

I wish you a good start to Tuesday! Warm, you
Rune Weichert