Mr Buschmann, your key issues paper sounds as if the future traffic light coalition has decided to end the pandemic in spring 2022.

Reinhard Muller

Responsible editor for "Current Affairs" and FAZ Einspruch, responsible for "State and Law".

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No, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP are ending the epidemic situation of national importance.

Because there is no longer any threat of systemic overloading of the health system.

Nevertheless, Corona continues to pose dangers.

But they can be managed with milder means.

But the countries are given a fixed catalog of possible measures: So more freedom, but not for the countries?

The constitution distributes the powers between the federal government and the federal states.

The federal government is responsible for the Infection Protection Act.

It was important to us to limit the measures to what was absolutely necessary.

What if a country wants to introduce stricter measures because of a bad development?

We have gained an overview of what the federal states also consider necessary.

These are the measures that can be found in the transitional arrangement.

Why can't the countries decide for themselves?

The federal states want the federal government to provide the appropriate legal basis.

As legislators, we must always keep an eye on everything: the wishes of the countries, the freedom of citizens and health protection.

We are now presenting a good solution for this.

At the same time, the impression arises that you want more central government overall, not least in education policy ...

We want better education.

Because we want our young people to enter the international labor markets with the best possible qualifications.

It would be nice if there was a performance competition within federalism.

But that is not always so.

Then there is digitization.

It doesn't make sense for every federal state to develop digital learning materials.

If the federal government also offers financial aid, there has never been any contradiction.

But if your key issues paper sends out the signal that everything is not that bad, why should people still get vaccinated?

Because we can only vaccinate the pandemic away.

There is no other way.

The national epidemic, however, is not about vaccination.

This is about very serious interference with fundamental rights.

We don't say: Corona is over.

Otherwise the catalog of transitional measures that we are presenting would not make sense.

However, we want to defeat Corona within the framework of the regular separation of powers and as gently as possible on fundamental rights.

This is the first project of the traffic light: where was the problem?

In our experience, it is better when conversations are held confidentially.

This confidentiality also applies afterwards.

One can say this much: There are things that we have talked about for a long time or for less.

But it didn't hook.

Let's try it another way: What surprised you the most?

The willingness to speak very openly and the willingness to make real decisions.