3 hours ago
Proposed draft law rejected by the Bundestag
338 in favour
350 against
5 abstentions
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Greece following the German vote closely
Helena Smith
in Athens
The Bundestag debate was being followed closely in Greece, an EU frontier country that has seen migration flows jump considerably with refugee arrivals on Crete and the adjacent isle of Gavdos increasing six-fold last year to the astonishment of locals.
As Europe’s southernmost point, Gavdos in particular has become the focal destination for would-be asylum seekers setting off from the port city of Tobruk in Libya. Boats are frequently crammed with unaccompanied minors.
Greece’s centre-right government has applied what it has called a “tough but fair” migration management policy. But for migrant solidarity workers, the measures, including containing refugees in closed controlled access centres (CCAC) on Aegean isles, have been unduly harsh - a reflection, say NGOs, not only of political sentiment across the continent but of the unspoken desire to deter would-be asylum seekers from making similar journeys.
This week, the Human Rights Legal Project (HRLP), described conditions in the safe zone area of Samos island’s CCAC’s – the zone where unaccompanied minors reside – as “horrific.”
“The area, which was originally designed to accommodate 200 children, is now hosting 485 unaccompanied minors, many of whom lack shoes and adequate clothing,” it said.
Shortages not only included beds and lack of access to education and health services but basic products such as soap and toothpaste.
Refugee Support Aegean, another NGO, also deplored the “inadequate presence of organisations and authorities” to deal with the upsurge in flows to the country. The lack of preparedness, had it said, resulted in ever growing numbers of newly arrived refugees being compelled to stay in “unsuitable facilities without basic necessities” in Gavdos and Crete.
Jakub Krupa
Ooh, this is an interesting one.
As Der Spiegel notes, the parties that technically declared their support for the bill would have the majority if all their members voted for it. But clearly, some did not (or didn’t turn up to vote.)
There will also be some questions about Friedrich Merz’s insistence to force this proposal to a vote.
Given his key argument hinged on the suggestion that this needs to be passed because that is what the electorate wants, there will surely be questions about how it ended up in failure – despite the AfD’s backing!
Proposed draft law rejected by the Bundestag
338 in favour
350 against
5 abstentions
What is going on? - recap
Just a reminder on what is going on if you’ve only just joined us on Europe Live:
The German parliament has just closed the vote on a draft law suggesting tightening of the country’s immigration rules, with changes to family reunification rules and stronger powers to the federal police.
The motion, put forward by the main opposition party CDU/CSU, is highly controversial as it could be passed with the votes of the Alternative für Deutschland, breaking the historical firewall against any sort of political cooperation with far-right parties.
The sitting broke for a few hours earlier today as the main parties sought to strike a last-minute agreement that would allow them to avoid the vote, but the crisis talks ultimately failed – and this is why we are here.
We are now waiting for the results and they should come very soon.
Back to Germany, the deputy speaker confirms that the vote has now closed; we’re waiting for the results as they count the votes.
(In the meantime, the session continues with a debate on Afghanistan.)
French budgetary breakthrough - analysis
Jon Henley
in Paris
Monday could be an interesting day in the Assemblée nationale in Paris with the French parliament set to vote on the 2025 budget after a commission of seven deputies and seven senators reached agreement on an amended text earlier this afternoon (see 13.14 CET).
The opposition Socialist party (PS) - whose support prime minister François Bayrou has been courting and which his minority government aims to peel away from the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, dominated by the radical left Unbowed France (LFI) - claimed a number of minor victories.
But it did not by any means get all it wanted and the text of the belt-tightening budget remains similar in essence to the one proposed by the former prime minister Michel Barnier, whose government fell in December after the far right Rally (RN) joined forces with the NFP in a vote of no confidence.
Analysts therefore expect the PS to vote against the budget on Monday, along with the other opposition parties: the RN, LFI, the Communists and the Greens. If the 66 Socialist deputies do vote against it, the bill will not pass.
Bayrou will spend the weekend trying to win over as much support as he can, but if he considers the risk of the budget being voted down is too great he may be tempted to make use of the controversial constitutional tool known as article 49.3.
This allows a government to push certain kind of legislation through parliament without a vote - but also allows MPs the chance to challenge that decision by submitting a no-confidence motion that is generally voted on 48 hours later.
It was just such a motion that saw off Barnier’s government at the end of last year, and France’s parliamentary arithmetic has not changed: the pro-Macron, centrist alliance plus the centre-right bloc can muster only 211 votes in the 577-seat house.
The Socialists have not said how they would vote on a no-confidence motion, which would almost certainly be submitted by LFI, and they – and, perhaps, the RN – may decide the stakes are now too high to bring down another government so early.
But it would take fewer than half of PS deputies to join LFI, the RN and the rest of the opposition in voting in favour of a censure motion for Bayrou’s government to suffer the same fate as his predecessor’s – as early as next Wednesday.
Watch this space.
Jakub Krupa
As we await the result of the vote in Germany, let’s take a super quick look at the situation in France again…
Vote on the draft law under way in the Bundestag
Back to the Bundestag where a late attempt to refer the draft law back to the committee was rejected.
The parliament is now voting on the second reading of the draft law, with results expected by 16:50 CET.
Who will vote in favour? Will anyone abstain? Remember, the Wednesday vote was passed by just three votes.
'Some judges ... want to govern,' Meloni says in protest against her probe
And a quick update on Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who caused quite an uproar with her comments last night, insisting that a probe into her role in the release of a Libyan war crime suspect was politically motivated.
We covered the context yesterday (here).
But Meloni insisted last night that passing the probe by a Rome prosecutor to a special court that considers cases against ministers was “clearly a deliberate act. Everyone knows that the prosecutors of these things have their discretion,” AFP says.
More broadly, she said the actions of “politicised magistrates” were “not normal”, adding: “Some judges, fortunately few... want to govern.”
She said the prosecutor involved had previously brought a case against her deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, and added: “I cannot be blackmailed, I will not be intimidated.”
Italy’s Association of Magistrates (ANM) said there had been a “total misunderstanding” of the role of the prosecutor, who it said was obliged by law to pass complaints against ministers to the court, without investigating them.
The special court of ministers will now assess the complaint against Meloni and the others, but would need parliament’s approval to proceed.
But, but, but … if you’re already looking up flights and planning your trip to Paris to see the balloon, let me suggest an alternative place to consider: the Polish capital, Warsaw.
(I admit, I may be slightly partisan here – sorry, not sorry!)
Chef Karol Adamiak writes for Guardian Europe today on how the city has changed over the last two decades.
Warsaw has been ranked among the top vegan cities in the world by HappyCow (a vegan ranking website) for the past six years. In 2022, it was Geographic’s number one vegan city in the world. Maybe your perception of Poland is all kielbasa (sausage) and conservative politics. Herring and hate. It’s more complicated than that. In the past two decades there has been a quiet vegan revolution in the country.
In February, we’re taking over Lotos, a traditional restaurant open since 1958, famous for its nóżki w galarecie (legs in jelly – literally a chicken soup served cold so the collagen has become gelatinous, with veg and carrots suspended in it). The owner, Hanna Szymańska, told us she’s looking forward to putting out a vegan menu for the night: “You have to move with the times.”
As the German debate continues – we will return to it for the vote, unless something significant happens earlier – let’s take a look at news elsewhere, starting with Paris.
Remember the flame-free Olympic balloon, the symbol of last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris?
French president Emmanuel Macron has just announced it will return every summer up until the next edition of summer games in Los Angeles 2028.
Jakub Krupa
Reminder: this draft law, if passed, would still have to go to the upper chamber, and wouldn’t get passed before the election on 23 February.
But emotions are flying high because of what’s at stake: both electorally, but also in terms of “the firewall” principle.
Merz explains that the measures proposed in this draft bill do not go beyond German and EU law, and urges lawmakers to vote for it to send a clear signal to voters that the parties of the centre are serious about the challenges the country faces.
He says his party also takes some blame for the rise of the AfD, and insists more needs to be done if they are to be stopped.
He also urges others to dial down their rhetoric, saying the parties will have to be able to talk to each other after the election next month.
He gets briefly annoyed when asked by Alliance 90/The Greens’s co-leader, Felix Banaszak, if he contemplates a scenario in which he gets elected chancellor with AfD votes.
In response, Merz asks Banaszak if he’s read any papers of the last few weeks and says that he has repeatedly ruled out such scenario.
Foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, for the Alliance 90/The Greens group, speaking next.
We will get back to their debate when we get closer to the vote.
Merz seeks to distance himself from far right but refuses to apologise for migration motion
Merz starts distancing himself from the AfD, as he says they are largely “a radical-right extremist party” which seeks to undermine democracy.
But in response to demands from the SPD, he refuses to apologise for passing the first migration motion on Wednesday with the AfD’s votes, even as he directly warns against the risks the party poses.
He insists that it is necessary to act after the recent knife attacks, and refuses to back down.
He presents the draft law outlining its three key elements: reducing immigration, suspending family reunification rights for asylum seekers, and expanding powers of the country’s police.
We can 'close the gates of hell together,' SDP lawmaker says
Mützenich ends his speech with a passionate plea to “close the gates of hell together,” not give up the “firewall” against the far right, and not allow for the draft law to be carried by the votes of the Alternative für Deutschland.
CDU/CSU’s Merz, the frontrunner to win next month’s election, is speaking next.
SPD’s Rolf Mützenich accuses CDU/CSU of trying to force their proposal through.
He describes long negotiations, but says they ultimately failed.
“If you want to put [the draft law] to the vote today, that’s up to you,” he turns to Merz.
