SPD demands gradual reduction of internal border controls after the start of the EU asylum reform

Fiedler points to the coalition agreement

Fiedler also justified his demand with the expectation that the EU's tightened asylum regulations would ease the situation at the external borders. "Provided that the new GEAS then also leads to a further easing of the situation at the other border sections, border checks must also be ended here," he said. Initially, the process should begin at sections with few irregular crossings, where the checks have in any case only had a limited effect.

The Union immediately pushed back. Alexander Throm, the interior policy spokesperson of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, described an end to internal border controls as premature. "Possible effects of the GEAS reform are by no means to be expected overnight. One would have to wait and see," Throm told the same media group. The decisive factor would be whether other EU states complied with the new rules: "The crucial point for Germany will be whether countries like Italy and Greece adhere to the rules."

Union and police union want to wait and see

Federal Interior Minister Dobrindt also rejected an immediate end to border controls. The federal government wanted to first observe the practical effects of the GEAS reform, the Ministry said. The German Police Union expressed itself similarly to the Union and spoke out in favor of waiting to see the effect of the new regulations at the external borders before deciding on a reduction of internal border controls.

The background to the debate is the principle of the Schengen area, which in principle excludes internal border controls between most EU states. In recent years, several member states, including Germany, had temporarily reintroduced checks at their internal borders in the face of high migration figures and security policy concerns. The GEAS package is now intended, among other things, to reorganize and in parts speed up the asylum procedure at the EU's external borders, for example through faster decisions in detention proceedings and a stricter categorization of those seeking protection.

Schengen principle and political signal

The EU itself had recently appealed to all member states not to let the new regulations fail. It remains open how cooperation with the main countries of arrival, Italy and Greece, will develop, whose return and reception capacities are considered decisive for the effectiveness of the system. Observers have so far also viewed Germany's internal border controls as a political signal to neighboring states that Germany remains capable of acting unilaterally if necessary.

The SPD explicitly links its demand to the date of 12 June, from which gradual relaxations are to be possible. Fiedler said: "After 12 June, internal border controls could be gradually scaled back and begun where irregular border crossings do not occur so often." A complete, immediate removal of the controls is therefore not associated with it from the SPD's perspective, but rather a staggered procedure depending on the situation at the respective border sections.

Criticism from Pro Asyl of the new rules

The human rights organization Pro Asyl, meanwhile, warned that the GEAS reform would erode the rights of people seeking protection. The organization criticized in particular the expansion of detention proceedings at the external borders and restrictions on family reunification. The plan is therefore under pressure not only between the coalition partners, but also in the public debate.

Regardless of the political dispute in Berlin, the entry into force on Friday is widely considered a given. The EU member states had approved the reform package after long negotiations; a postponement would be politically difficult to push through. The question of when and where Germany will roll back its internal border controls will therefore become the first major test for the new European asylum architecture in the coming weeks.