German border policy illegal, court rules
The new German government’s policy of rejecting asylum seekers at the border without following the EU’s so-called “Dublin Regulation” is illegal, a court has ruled.
The new border rules were introduced by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in early May.
But a court in Berlin ruled that three Somalis travelling from Poland to Germany should not have been sent back to Poland after they were stopped at the border.
The “Dublin Regulation” is an EU law according to which asylum seekers’ claims must be examined in only one EU country, typically the first one they arrived in.
The court ruled that the German authorities could not send asylum seekers back without implementing Dublin checks.
The new policy of pushing back almost all undocumented migrants at Germany's borders, including asylum seekers, was quickly introduced after Merz's government took office early last month.
A crackdown on irregular migration was a key plank of Merz's platform for February's general election.
That vote saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) score its best-ever result of just over 20 percent and Merz insists that action on migration is the only way to halt the party's growth.
Germany’s civil liberties under pressure
Democracy and human rights in Germany and Europe are increasingly under pressure, according to a study by a charity.
The report by Protestant organisation Brot für die Welt classified Germany in the second-highest “impaired” category for the second year running.
This means fundamental rights like freedom of speech and assembly are mostly respected but violations still occur.
The report criticised restrictive measures during peaceful demonstrations and growing surveillance of activists.
Only 12 of the 27 EU countries, including Portugal, Ireland and Sweden, were classified in the best “open” category.
Germany and France call for more European autonomy
Germany and France are aiming for a “reset” in relations to build a more sovereign Europe independent of the US, according to an internal policy paper seen by Handelsblatt.
They plan joint initiatives to reduce dependence on foreign powers, anticipating a potential American retreat from European security.
Proposals include creating European-controlled cloud platforms and boosting defence technology through a new Franco-German innovation agency.
The plan also calls for easing financial regulations to enhance competitiveness and pressuring countries to take back rejected asylum seekers.
Germany falling behind on AI jobs
AI-related jobs in Germany remain rare despite a global boom in the technology, according to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation.
From 2019 to 2022, AI job ads nearly doubled but still only made up 1.5 percent of all listings, and growth has stalled since then.
Most AI jobs focus on developers, especially in machine learning and language models, rather than everyday AI users.
Experts warn that without better AI adoption, Germany could miss out on significant productivity gains and risks falling behind internationally.
With reporting from AFP
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