STATE LEADERS FRET OVER MERKEL’S COVID LAW

The upper house of the German legislature gave its reluctant approval on Thursday to a new federal law to battle the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, but many state leaders asked: At what cost? Robin Powell reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Until now, individual states have themselves been able to make the decisions on how to deal with local outbreaks and rising infection numbers.

Once the bill - now passed by both houses of parliament - is signed into law, it is the national government in Berlin that will have the power to impose local lockdown measures, including the shutting of schools, shops, and night-time curfews.

Announcing the bill last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was urgently needed to address a third wave of infections sweeping the country. She had the votes to support her, as Thursday's debate made clear, but not everyone is convinced.

"Today's session marks a low point in Germany's federal culture," said the premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the current speaker of the upper house, Reiner Haseloff.

Several state representatives - including from Chancellor Merkel's own CDU party - came out in the debate against the bill, warning that parts of it were contrary to Germany's Basic Law.

"We all know that the constitutionality of this measure is questionable," said Stephan Weil, the premier of the state of Lower Saxony, referring to the curfews that have been the most frequent target of criticism.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn, the last to speak in Thursday's debate, countered that this was a time-limited measure for emergency situations, alluding to the commonly used name of the law change: the "emergency brake." Outside the debating chamber, controversy followed the legislation from the start, and it was not supported by opposition parties in the lower house.

WEEKLY FEATURE : TRUEMONEY BUCKS THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE