BERLIN. It is a measure designed to discourage what the German conservatives call a horrible term “social tourism”, that is to say above all to limit the east European immigration attracted by the generous German welfare. But it will be presented by the Social Democratic Minister of Labor, Andrea Nahles. Next week the Merkel government should discuss, according to rumors in some newspapers, the law strongly desired by the minister that introduces a severe crackdown on social aid granted to citizens of other European countries.

Restrictions, say the same press, say that the Christian-Democratic Interior Minister, Thomas De Maizière, wanted even tougher ones. However, the result of mediation is a clear break with the past. Before the age of five, Poles, Italians or Portuguese and other European citizens arriving in Germany will not have access to the right to unemployment benefit or other support payments if they have not worked before. Now the limit is six months.

For Italians, it’s not a detail. According to data from the Federal Office of Labor (Bundesagentur fuer Arbeit) in January of this year, about 440 thousand European citizens benefited from any kind of subsidy. The largest group actually turned out to be the Poles: 92,000. But we are in second place, with 71,000 people receiving a social allowance. In third place are the Bulgarians (70,000), the fourth are Romanians (57,000) and the Greeks (46,000). The vast majority of those who use this aid have a job with which they do not arrive later this month – typically it is a “minijobber” who earns a maximum of 450 euros a month – Last winter, when the discussion on the possibility of a crackdown began on social aid for foreigners, and on Nahles a storm of controversy has struck, the minister has received the convinced support of Angela Merkel. Nahles thus reacts to a ruling by the Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht) which decided last year that European citizens were entitled to a subsidy six months after arriving in Germany. A sentence that provoked an insurrection among the Municipalities, which feared a surge of costs. But their alarm evidently contrasts with the statements of Nahles, who has always said that the restrictions will affect very few people. Of the two, either: it will have the effect that the Municipalities hope for and will keep many foreigners away, or it is a measure that concerns a handful of migrants, and then it is not clear why they adopt it, causing enormous controversy.
Meanwhile, the head of the association of German Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, has already expressed satisfaction with the news and is pushing for rapid approval. “The current rules and the recent ruling of the Federal Court contribute to making Germany even more attractive for those who want to leave an EU country.” Yesterday a newspaper already titled “limits for EU foreigners” instead of “EU citizens”. Lapsus or sign of the times?