Germany to accept only 2,00,000 migrants a year under new deal

Berlin, October 9: Two weeks after winning elections in Germany with a reduced majority, Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Sunday to limit Germany’s refugee intake in a bid to unite her conservative camp ahead of tough coalition talks to form a new government. 

 

That target looks achievable, given that the number of people arriving in Germany fell from 890,000 in 2015 to about 280,000 last year. A further drop is expected this year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) have reached a deal on migrant policy with her conservative Bavarian allies removing a major obstacle to pursuing talks on a coalition with other parties.

The agreement, under which Germany would accept around 200,000 people a year on humanitarian grounds but not refer to it as an "upper limit" on refugees, came after around 7 hours of talks on Sunday between leading members of the CDU and Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU).

Merkel wants to build a coalition between her conservative bloc and two other parties, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens, who are far apart on issues from tax and energy to Europe. Talks are continuing on other policies, including pensions and Europe, but the migrant issue was the biggest problem.

Once the CDU and CSU have agreed on all their policies, they can start exploratory talks with the FDP and Greens. It could still take months to get a full coalition deal and investors are concerned about the prospect of a policy standstill in Europe's biggest economy. If no deal is reached, the prospect looms of either a minority government or new elections.