German coalition parties prevent parliamentary scrutiny over new security measures

Opposition parties in the German Bundestag complained that the ruling coalition parties SPD and CDU effectively circumvented parliamentary scrutiny in the adoption of an amendment to the German Federal Police Act extending the storage time of video surveillance material from 48 hours to thirty days. The amendment is part of the German implementing act of the US-EU PNR agreement. Following media reports, the crucial amendment was circulated to Parliamentarians late in the evening by fax. In the Home Committee meeting the next day, the amendment was adopted without discussion with the votes of the majority parties. Declared «urgent», the entire act was hence adopted on in plenary the following day (15.11.2007): at two o’clock in the morning, again by the majority parties and again without discussion.

Dieter Wiefelspütz, speaker for Home Affairs of the SPD in an interview rejected the claim that coalition forces engaged in a ‘cloak and dagger operation’. Although he admitted that things might have better dealt differently, he declared that it’s the duty of an active parliamentarian to know what is going on in his field. If the Federal Data Protection Supervisor, Peter Schaar, was able to read the amendment and understand its impact, there is no reason why Parliamentarians should not able to do the same.

Documents:Beschlussempfehlung und Bericht des Innenausschusses des Deutschen Bundestages – Entwurf eines Dritten Gesetzes zur Änderung des Bundespolizeigesetzeshttp://dip21.bundestag.de/

Plenarprotokoll 16/126, Deutscher Bundestag, Stenografischer Bericht, 126. Sitzung, Berlin, Donnerstag, den 15. November 2007, http://www.bundestag.de/

«Datenschutzbeauftragter kritisiert Mehr an Videoüberwachung»,AFP, 20.11.2007, http://afp.google.com/

»Wir können und wollen gar nichts verstecken» - SPD-Innenexperte sieht Deutschland als den «entwickeltsten Rechtsstaat»,Interview with Dieter Wiefelspütz (SPD) in Deutschlandrado: http://www.dradio.de

«Videoüberwachung an Bahnhöfen: Parlament wurde ausgetrickst», Press Release, Ulla Jelpke, Speaker for Home Affairs of PDS-Die Linke, 27.11.2007, http://www.ulla-jelpke.de/

«Videos länger gespeichert - Unbemerkt hat die Koalition das Bundespolizeigesetz geändert. Opposition: Trickserei», die tageszeitung, 28.11.2007, http://www.taz.de/