GERMANY: Groundbreaking plans to allow thousands of foreign workers into Germany were in limbo last night after the country's highest court ruled that the new immigration bill was passed through parliament illegally.
The ruling is the latest blow to the reform plans of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who had hoped that the controlled immigration allowed in the bill would address Germany's declining birth rate and skills shortage.
"I can't hide the fact that this is a very difficult situation," said Mr Otto Schily, the interior minister and architect of the legislation. "The law would have given Germany the most modern immigration legislation in Europe."
The new legislation would have opened Germany up for the first time in over 30 years to non-EU workers and their families and introduced new measures to integrate foreigners better into German society.
The legislation, developed over a tortuous two-year consultation process, was passed by parliament last March in a vote that the Christian Democrats (CDU) said was unconstitutional.
Chancellor Schröder said the court had rejected the way the bill was passed, not the bill itself, and said his government would resubmit it to parliament unaltered.
But Mr Schily said he would re-open negotiations with the opposition as soon as possible in the hope of passing the legislation next month.
The CDU criticised the legislation for not capping the number of immigrants allowed into the country and for widening the grounds for asylum. The party called for less immigration and better integration of the seven million foreigners already living in Germany - nearly 10 per cent of the population.
"This is an important day for the preservation of Germany's identity," said Mr Edmund Stoiber, the Bavarian leader and defeated conservative challenger in September's election.
"Now the way is clear for a sensible overhaul of immigration, one that does not overburden Germany," he added.
Mr Stoiber argued during the election that with 10 per cent unemployment, Germany did not need immigration workers.
Business leaders had rejected that argument and had welcomed the bill as a long overdue step to address a rising shortage in skilled labour that they say has left 1.5 million high-skilled jobs unfilled.
"We must not be misled by the current economic difficulties," said Mr Michael Rogowski, head of Germany's main industry federation yesterday. "Germany must remain attractive for the highly qualified from all the countries in the world," Mr Rogowski added.
The constitutional drama began last March in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, where the federal states are represented.
The final vote on the immigration bill hinged on the vote of the eastern state of Brandenburg, governed by a grand coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and the CDU.
The state's SPD minister voted for the bill, his CDU deputy voted against. The SPD parliamentary leader interpreted it as a vote in favour and the legislation was passed.
Six CDU leaders took the case to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the vote breached a constitutional requirement for states to vote unanimously.
Yesterday the eight-judge Constitutional Court agreed.
The decision is a further blow to Chancellor Schröder, who has been plagued with bad news since his re-election in September.
The economy is stagnating, unemployment is at 10 per cent and rising, and his government has been forced to raise taxes to cope with a €30 billion budget shortfall.
