The federal states are working on introducing the planned payment card for asylum seekers. Meanwhile, in Berlin, a dispute is breaking out in the traffic light coalition: Is there a need for federal regulation?
The planned payment card for asylum seekers is causing a ruckus in the traffic light coalition. The crux of the matter is the question of whether federal regulation is necessary or at least useful for the introduction of the card.
Representatives of the FDP and SPD factions spoke in favor of this – the Greens in the Bundestag, however, consider the existing legal options to be sufficient. FDP parliamentary group vice-president Wolfgang Kubicki threatened to break up the coalition. He told “Bild”: “If the Greens actually torpedo this minimally invasive intervention in the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, it will question the continuation of the coalition.”
At the end of January, 14 of 16 federal states agreed on a joint procurement process to introduce a payment card for asylum seekers, which should be completed by the summer. Among other things, the card is intended to prevent refugees from transferring money to smugglers or to their family or friends abroad.
Arguments for federal regulation
The deputy parliamentary group leader of the FDP, Konstantin Kuhle, said that the federal government should expand the legal basis for the use of payment cards. “This includes, for example, removing the priority of cash benefits for accommodation outside of reception facilities. This makes payment cards usable in more constellations and thus makes their nationwide introduction easier,” said Kuhle to the German Press Agency and the “Tagesspiegel”.
The SPD domestic politician Sebastian Hartmann said that the Federal Ministry of Labor had already provided a formulation that was ready for decision. “This is about a uniform federal framework. The administrative burden on municipalities must be reduced through cost-effective, uniform models,” he explained.
Arguments against federal regulation
On the other hand, the deputy parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Andreas Audretsch, said: “It was a common position in the coalition that the states can introduce the payment card in a legally secure manner. Various states such as Hamburg and Bavaria are already doing this. Changes are therefore not necessary and not agreed. We are not available for chaos, distraction debates and bad management from the Chancellery.”
In fact, Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt wrote a letter to Audretsch in October stating that “no legal change” was necessary for the introduction of a payment card. The letter is available to the dpa.
However, when asked by the dpa, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Labor confirmed that a formulation aid had been developed on behalf of a working group from the federal states. It stipulates that “the payment card form of service is expressly included in the law”. This was preceded by an exchange between Hesse as the chair of the Prime Minister’s Conference, the co-chair state of Lower Saxony and the Federal Ministry of Labor to create uniform framework conditions for a payment card and to make changes to the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act.
Source: Stern
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