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„And you can also do a lot of things through coordinating policy, at intergovernmental level, but it certainly makes sense to also have European competencies for certain situations, especially pandemics.“
She continued: „Ideally, we should always have had a uniform European approach to lockdowns, shutdowns and other measures.
„I believe that Europe needs more competencies in the area of health. This will probably also require changes to the treaties,“ Merkel said at an event organized by her center-right pan-EU political family, the European People’s Party, which discussed potential EU reforms that could also come up as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Several parties opposed the measures inside the Bundestag.
Eight thousand anti-lockdown protesters demonstrated close to parliament.
Police broke up the demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate, complaining that many of those involved had refused to heed warnings to wear face coverings and observe social distancing rules.
‚Peace, freedom, no dictatorship!‘ some protestors chanted, many waving German flags and banners which said the coronavirus lockdown undermines values enshrined in the constitution.
BERLIN — Germany’s government plans to ask lawmakers to grant it stronger powers in order to introduce a nationwide lockdown as the country is gripped by a third wave of the coronavirus.
The country’s approach has so far been to have the governors of Germany’s 16 states agree to any nationwide pandemic policies. But as calls from public health officials have grown stronger for a new nationwide lockdown in recent weeks, Chancellor Angela Merkel has had trouble gaining all of the governors’ support.
In Germany, politics is supposed to be dull. Everything about the system — its carefully calibrated federalism, support for the European Union and emphasis on coalitions and consensus — is calculated to keep public life as stable as possible. Under normal conditions it works well enough — even if it often puts outsiders to sleep.
But then came the pandemic.
Changing the law comes with considerable risk for Merkel: enshrining specific infection rates in legislation could require her government to put the law to endless ad-hoc parliamentary votes as the pandemic situation changes. A more permanent power-grab could in turn be blocked by the Bundesrat, the constitutional body through which the states participate in the legislative process.
Backing the idea of the Chancellor taking control of the situation, Norbert Roettgen, who was defeated by Mr Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine Westphalia, in the CDU leadership contest earlier this year, said: “At the beginning of the crisis, the decision-making in the Minister-President Conference was okay.
“But it has become dysfunctional in the meantime.
On Friday Merkel administration figures insisted her move was not about calling into question Germany’s postwar federal system, which gives state considerable political autonomy. But they said the decentralised system, which allowed quick and local responses on testing a year ago, had become an impediment now to coherent infection prevention.
– Boris Johnson and the Government today won a crunch vote on extending coronavirus powers to September
– But the PM suffered a considerable Tory rebellion as 35 of his MPs voted against and a further 20 abstained
– Emergency powers will now be kept in place to September despite lockdown being due to end on June 21
– Rebels questioned need for ’significant draconian powers‘ after life is supposed to be back to normal
(12.01.2020)
German police fired water cannons at demonstrators protesting coronavirus restrictions after saying the crowd ignored warnings to wear masks and to keep their distance from one another
Police have used water cannon to break up a protest by thousands of people in the centre of Berlin against changes to the law on coronavirus measures.
Berlin authorities said protesters had ignored requests to wear masks.
At the end of summer 2020, Israeli democracy died in broad daylight.
The bill allows the executive branch to sidestep Knesset committees, which the government says cause delays in implementing its decisions. It has been debated by the Knesset and has passed a first vote on Monday night with the support of 47 MKs, while 34 opposed it. It was then approved in its second and third votes, with with 29 lawmakers voting in favor and 24 against.
Ministers Gabi Ashkenazi, Avi Nissenkorn, Amir Peretz and Izhar Shay opposed resuming the tracking, which was stopped on the order of the High Court of Justice, before the process of finding a civilian alternative is exhausted. Ashkenazi said he didn’t think the current level of new cases justified the resumption of this surveillance. Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman warned that codifying the surveillance in law could expose his organization’s technology and work methods. Netanyahu said in response that “the enemy is already familiar” with the system in question.
The parties also decided that emergency orders instated to fight the coronavirus pandemic would not extend beyond six months.
The bill known as the „Norwegian law,“ which allows any Member of Knesset (Israel Parliament) appointed to a ministerial post to temporarily resign from the legislative chamber, will reportedly be dropped.
This tracker monitors government responses to the pandemic that affect civic freedoms and human rights, focusing on emergency laws.
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Leaders with authoritarian instincts may not cede their emergency powers.
Hungary’s parliament endorsed a bill on Monday giving nationalist premier Viktor Orban the sweeping new powers he says he needs to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.
Nationalist opposition League leader Matteo Salvini said, amid criticism of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban getting full powers Monday, that it had been a democratic choice by the Hungarian parliament.