Parliamentary Debates in the German Bundestag This Week
The German Federal Government has unveiled a series of initiatives aimed at addressing workforce shortages and promoting human rights.
Skills Strategy: Attracting and Securing Skilled Workers
In a bid to meet the demands of the labor market and fill around 400,000 job vacancies, the German government plans to issue an additional 22,422 work visas in 2025, bringing the total to about 222,422. This move is part of a broader strategy to attract and secure skilled workers [1].
The government is also streamlining the immigration process, building on the success of the Skilled Immigration Act (2023 and 2024), to attract more foreign professionals. Changes to the EU Blue Card rules will expand eligibility by lowering salary thresholds and broadening the list of eligible professions, including IT and healthcare sectors [1][3].
Germany is prioritizing tech talents and professionals with expertise in areas such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence, reflecting the country’s emphasis on future-oriented skills and innovation-driven economic growth [3][5].
The skills strategy also includes a commitment to a skills policy that contributes to the equal treatment of women and men.
Human Rights Policy: A Focus on Equality and Sustainability
The federal government publishes a report on its human rights policy every two years. The current report discusses the priorities of the federal government's human rights engagement for 2023 and 2024, the situation and implementation of human rights work in Germany, the federal government’s engagement for human rights in foreign and development cooperation, and the human rights situation in selected countries and Germany’s activities there [6].
The report sheds light on topics such as "human rights and digitalization", "climate change and human rights", and "combating sexual abuse" [2].
Education and Social Equality
The Education in Germany 2022 report, published in June 2022, focuses on educational personnel. It highlights challenges such as high social inequality in educational opportunities, with less than a third of students from disadvantaged social backgrounds in Germany achieving the general higher education entrance qualification, while around 80 percent of students from better-off families do [7].
To address this issue, the federal and state governments plan to support around 4,000 general and vocational schools in socially disadvantaged areas with the Startchancen-Programm [8].
Single-Use Plastic: A Sustainable Approach
The federal government is introducing a bill to implement a directive on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products. A single-use plastic fund will finance the collection and disposal of waste from these products in public spaces. A single-use plastic commission will be established, consisting of representatives from various sectors [4].
The amount of the levy is based on the quantity of single-use plastic products made available or sold on the market.
Support for Start-ups and Education Expenditure
The Federal Government has launched a Start-up Strategy with ten fields of action to improve conditions for founders in Germany. By 2030, the Federal Government will provide 10 billion euros for start-ups in their growth phase at KfW [1].
Education expenditure in Germany amounted to 241 billion euros in 2020. There are a fifth more employees in the education sector than in 2010, with the largest increase in kindergartens (plus 75 percent) [9].
[1] Bundesregierung.de [2] Bundesregierung.de [3] Bundesregierung.de [4] Bundesumweltamt.de [5] Bundesregierung.de [6] Bundesregierung.de [7] Bundesregierung.de [8] Bundesregierung.de [9] Bundesregierung.de
