US embassy cable - 02FRANKFURT11732

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 011732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, GM 
SUBJECT:  FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECLARES IMMIGRATION 
LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL 
 
REF: BERLIN 1141 
 
1.  (U) Summary: On December 18, the Federal Constitutional 
Court in Karlsruhe declared unconstitutional the 
government's immigration law, which had been passed by the 
Bundesrat in March 2002 under controversial circumstances. 
With this decision, the Court accepted the challenge to the 
law by six opposition (CDU or CSU)-led states.  The 
Karlsruhe decision is seen by many contacts as yet another 
blow for the Schroeder Government and as welcome news for 
Hesse Minister-President Roland Koch (CDU) in the final 
weeks of the Hesse state election campaign.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) On March 22, 2002 the Bundesrat passed the 
immigration law over the objections of the CDU/CSU 
opposition (Reftel).  Bundesrat President Klaus Wowereit 
(SPD) decided that the law had the required number of votes 
by counting the split vote of the state of Brandenburg as 
valid.  (Brandenburg is governed by a grand coalition of SPD 
and CDU.)  While Minister President Manfred (SPD) voted with 
yes, his coalition partner, Interior Minister Joerg 
Schoenbohm (CDU), voted against it.  The six CDU and CSU 
governed states of Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse, 
Thuringa, Saxony and Saarland filed a lawsuit with the 
Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, arguing that the 
Bundesrat procedure violated the German Constitution. 
 
3. (U) The eight judges of the Second Senate on December 18 
confirmed that the immigration law cannot go into effect on 
January 1, 2003.  They held that, since the state of 
Brandenburg did not vote unanimously, the vote was invalid. 
The judges reconfirmed the constitutional requirement that a 
state has to give a unanimous vote in the Bundesrat.  They 
also stated that after the split vote had been given, 
Bundesrat President Wowereit did not follow correct 
procedures.  Vice President Winfried Hassemer, who announced 
the verdict, stated that the decision was reached with a six- 
to-two majority.  Judges Osterloh and Luebbe-Wolf (both SPD) 
gave dissenting opinions. 
 
4. (SBU) The B-W CDU expressed satisfaction with the 
Karlsruhe decision.  Christoph Dahl, spokesperson of CDU 
caucus at the Stuttgart State Parliament, told us that the 
immigration law verdict is a heavy blow for the national 
government in Berlin.  In the upcoming negotiations with SPD 
and Greens, the CDU will try to modify the new immigration 
law to better suit its political objectives.  Specifically, 
the CDU/CSU will seek to limit and regulate immigration into 
Germany to a greater extent and to focus more on the 
integration of foreigners already resident in Germany.  Dahl 
said he expects the SPD to accommodate the CDU, which in 
turn might lead to increased tension between SPD and Greens. 
Dahl also expects that Hesse M-P Roland Koch will exploit 
the immigration issue for the final phase of his election 
campaign. 
 
5. (SBU) B-W Economics Minister Walter Doering (FDP) called 
on all politicians to clarify the immigration issue as soon 
as possible.  Immigration, according to Doering, is a 
crucial issue for the future of the country and should not 
become the subject of a political game.  For the B-W SPD, 
the Karlsruhe decision was not unexpected.  Andreas Reissig, 
press spokesman for the B-W SPD, told us that the SPD will 
respect the Karlsruhe verdict.  The SPD still feels that 
Germany needs a modern immigration law and will now start to 
work constructively with all political parties to secure a 
majority in the Bundesrat. 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment: The decision of the Federal Court in 
Karlsruhe did not come as a surprise.  For several weeks, 
all major media sources have reported rumors that Karlsruhe 
would declare the immigration law unconstitutional.  For the 
SPD-Greens coalition in Berlin the decision is not 
unexpected, but is nevertheless a heavy blow, particularly 
since the immigration law was considered a crowning SPD- 
Greens achievement during the last legislative period.  The 
best chance to bring a new immigration law through the CDU- 
dominated Bundesrat is for the SPD and Greens to seek a 
compromise with the CDU/CSU.  The media has already 
reported, however, that Federal Interior Minister Schily 
intends to introduce the same law to the Bundestag/Bundesrat 
early next year.  The CDU/CSU will not consider this a 
welcome move and could use the government's unwillingness to 
compromise as an additional issue in the upcoming February 
2, 2003 state elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony, something 
the government would like to avoid. 
 
7. (SBU) Comment Cont.: The SPD may prove to be more 
cooperative than its Greens coalition partners as the party 
would like to see immigration taken out of the state 
election campaigns.  Already facing growing voter discontent 
and poor poll numbers in Hesse and Lower Saxony, the SPD 
would not want to see an emotionally charged issue like 
immigration play a role in the elections.  A compromise with 
the CDU/CSU could do this.  What is uncertain is how much 
the Greens will be willing to compromise.  The CDU/CSU will 
push for limits on immigration - something the Greens would 
have problems with as this increases the chances, in their 
minds, that politically or religiously persecuted people 
could be denied entry to Germany.  If the SPD agrees to 
limits on immigration, there could be trouble in the 
coalition.  One thing is certain, Koch will use the court's 
decision to maximize his chances for reelection in Hesse. 
He did, after all, win the 1998 state elections on a 
campaign platform that called for limiting immigration.  End 
Comment. 
 
BODDE