The German Union parties (CDU/CSU) are again considering backing an initiative by the left-globalist ‘traffic light’ coalition to amend Germany’s constitution in an attempt to keep the anti-establishment Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party from influencing the Federal Constitutional Court.
Negotiations between the Union and the governing parties concerning the latter’s proposed draft law—framed as necessary to ‘protect’ the court from ‘extremists’—began in late January but concluded shortly thereafter when the CDU and CSU stated that they found no compelling reason for the constitutional amendment.
At the time, politicians from the traffic light parties sharply criticized CDU leader Friedrich Merz’s decision to withdraw from talks, accusing him of “naivety,” “negligence,” and failing to take what they regard as the necessary action required to protect Germany’s constitutional state.
The Union, for whatever reason, has since reversed its position, with parliamentary group leader Merz last weekend asking Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) to draft a proposal to ‘protect’ the Federal Constitutional Court from ‘extremists.’
“We are open to talking about anchoring a core of proven structures of the Federal Constitutional Court in the Basic Law,” Merz told the German press.
The Federal Ministry of Justice on Thursday, March 28th, made a draft of the proposal available to the Rheinische Post. According to the 12-page draft law, the following points are to be enshrined in Basic Law: the independence of the court, the existence of two senates, the election of eight judges each by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, office term limits of twelve years, and an age limit of 68 years.
Most notably, the draft law proposes that changing a judge, which presently requires a simple majority, should only be possible with a two-thirds majority. This would prevent judges from being removed from office relatively easily after a change in government, and make it far more difficult for the AfD to appoint judges.
If implemented, the proposed alterations to the Basic Law would be “exempt from change with a simple majority in the future,” solidifying the party proportional representation system for appointing judges and rendering any further changes to it next to impossible through coalition efforts following the next election.
The Union faction will now scrutinize and assess the draft before further discussions. Negotiations should be finished after Easter, the faction said. Given that amendments to the German constitution require a two-thirds majority in both the Bundesrat and Bundestag, the traffic light coalition needs the Union’s support to push this through.
