Let grass grow over it
The Federal Council has a long list of projects to work through today. Among other things, it is about the controversial cut in the subsidy for agricultural diesel, the announcement of which drove thousands of outraged tractors onto the streets. The Union is making significant relief for farmers a condition for agreeing to another traffic light project, the Growth Opportunities Act, which is also being discussed in the Federal Council today.
A complicated negotiation situation, and farmers have registered to protest again, but some of them "without a tractor," as the announcement expressly states, half as threatening and half as loud.
The sixth item on the state chamber’s agenda is the “Law on the Controlled Handling of Cannabis”. It was actually thought that the issue was largely settled after the Bundestag voted on it by a majority at the end of February: smoking weed should be decriminalized, up to three cannabis plants can be grown at home, and the grass should be brought out of the shadows, so to speak.
It should be an impulse for freedom from the self-proclaimed progress coalition, and a relief for the police and judiciary. However, the latter fears exactly the opposite, because the new law is also associated with an amnesty: the legalization applies retroactively, the German Association of Judges estimates that 100,000 criminal files will have to be combed through and many of them will have to be re-evaluated.
And because there are also other reservations, some of a very fundamental nature, some countries could today try to at least delay the law by appealing to the Mediation Committee and hope that the matter will slowly be cleared up.
Yesterday there were still heated calls and meetings on the matter, and 170 Green members sent an open letter to the Green co-governing states under the title “Keeping the Green election promise – The cannabis law must not fail!”
Does all of this mean anything? "It's unclear until the end how things will turn out," says my colleague Milena Hassenkamp, who monitors the Ministry of Health for SPIEGEL. "Every vote is fought for - if only because it could be unpleasant for the traffic light factions if their country colleagues bury their own law."
More background: What still stands in the way of cannabis liberalization
Second chance for Biberach
The Green Party's political Ash Wednesday in Biberach, Swabia, was a low point in German culture of debate. Straw burned, police officers were injured, and a car window shattered. There were shouts of “Get off, get off,” and there was a poster hanging on a tractor with the sentence: “Whoever sells the land and catches farmers is worth hanging on the gallows.”
The Greens' event was canceled for security reasons, Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir discussed with farmers elsewhere, Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann went home.
A mistake, as he later said. “It was only after a considerable delay that I realized that this was an incredible process,” the Green politician recently told the “Schwäbische Zeitung”. »Looking back, I would say: If I had been aware of it right away, that's exactly why I would have gone there. It cannot be the case that a prime minister cannot speak at an event in his own country.
Today Kretschmann is traveling to Biberach again. The district administrator and mayor have invited people to a discussion on the topic of “Political culture of debate – requirements and limits”. It is important to them not to simply leave the events surrounding the Green Party's Ash Wednesday standing there, they say.
Political Ash Wednesday in Biberach gets a second chance. The Stuttgarter Zeitung already says: “Biberach is preparing for a hot evening.”
More background: How the Greens became targets and how they want to defend themselves
Collecting money in Brussels
The heads of state and government discussed two major topics on the first day of the EU summit in Brussels: Firstly, the question of how Ukraine can be further supported and with what money. Secondly, how Europe responds to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, all EU members - except Hungary - agree that the interest income from frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank must go to Ukraine. The heads of state and government disagreed about whether the money should be used for weapons or for reconstruction.
Austria, for example, does not want to go along and “constructively abstain,” as it is called in Brussels. This means: You don't want to agree, but you don't want to prevent it either. Hungary could again cause difficulties in the EU Council of Ministers. Today's summit referred the topic there for further elaboration.
The most effective suggestion was made by Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia. If every country allocated at least 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product to military aid, Ukrainians could trump Russia, she said in Brussels.
It might actually be a turning point in this hopeless war. However, many EU states will not agree to this demand. Even a coalition of the willing could make a difference, as the recent example of the Czech Republic showed. The small country is currently collecting international ammunition for Ukraine and is doing so quite successfully.
On the issue of Israel, the EU governments agreed on a call for an immediate ceasefire, which can be understood as a harsher tone towards the Netanyahu government. However, there is said to have been an argument in the group about how clearly Hamas was condemned. Council President Charles Michel, however, called the debate constructive.
Today we will be looking at the issue that has been simmering for years: how to harmonize the capital markets in Europe. The confusion of rules for companies in the EU is still one of the biggest location disadvantages compared to the USA, for example. Everyone agrees on the goal, but there is plenty of potential for conflict in the details, says my colleague Timo Lehmann. He is one of our correspondents in Brussels reporting from the summit. The topic of agriculture, says Timo, will also play a role today.
More background: Promised, broken
Read the current SPIEGEL editorial here
What the Kasia Lenhardt case teaches:
Women are abused, beaten and raped by their partners every day. Politicians act hesitantly. And far too many look away.
Click here for the current daily quiz
The starting question today: How often in the history of the German Bundestag have Chancellors asked the question of confidence?
Winner of the day...
... is the Federal Constitutional Court. Because if everything goes well, the institution in Karlsruhe should soon arrive in the present. In addition to all the agenda items already described above, the Federal Council is today also dealing with an amendment to the Federal Constitutional Court Act. This is intended to enable electronic legal transactions at the highest German court.
Frankly, I didn't realize that this technological advance had not yet reached the top judges. “Nobody has to go to the mailbox or fax machine any more if they want to contact the Federal Constitutional Court,” said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann at the end of August when the cabinet approved the draft. Hallelujah!
We send our congratulations for this revolution separately. Maybe first by fax.
Pitfalls of digitalization: Municipalities are switching off online car registration one by one
The latest reports from the night
IMF approves Ukraine a loan of 880 million dollars:
Ukraine has met all the requirements of the International Monetary Fund - and will now receive another part of the billion-dollar loan program.
Prosecutors see no evidence of crime after Nex Benedict's death:
The non-binary teenager Nex Benedict took his own life one day after an attack in a school toilet. The public prosecutor now speaks of a fair fight. He doesn't want to press charges.
Controversial football game:
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national team has not played against European teams. Now Serbia sent its selection to Moscow – for a bonus of 250,000 euros.
I would particularly like to recommend this story to you today:
The misogynistic matriarchy:
The new documentary “House of Kardashian” wants to uncover the secret of the family dynasty. Instead, the three episodes finally expose Kim, Kylie and Co. as a neoliberal masturbation fantasy.
I wish you a good start to the day.
Yours, Martin Knobbe, head of the SPIEGEL capital office