Lower Thirds:

0:02	Report by Alex Gerst

0:46	Nancy Faeser (SPD), German Interior Minister 

1:14	Jens Spahn (CDU), Member of Negotiating Team

1:39	Daniel Thym, Immigration Law Expert 

((Anmod: 
Conservatives and Social Democrats are negotiating how a potential future government should deal with asylum seekers. While they agree in principle on the need for a tougher stance on migration, they have so far failed to reach common ground on a key issue: how to deal with asylum seekers who arrive in Germany. ))

Script: 

Receiving asylum in Germany could get much harder under a conservative-led government.

Together with the Social Democrats, they plan to tighten border controls and return asylum seekers to the country from which they first entered Germany.

The goal: shift responsibility for asylum claims to the EU’s external border states.

This would mark a change from the current process—but it requires coordination with Germany’s neighbors. 

And what exactly “coordination” means is at the heart of the debate between the potential coalition partners. 

The Social Democrats want to return asylum seekers only if the country they entered from agrees to take them back.

+++ Nancy Faeser (SPD), German Interior Minister +++

"‘of course that means that there is actual coordination with those neighboring countries — that is, a mutual, let’s say, agreement is reached to act together.” 
 
 ((… dass in Abstimmung mit den Nachbarländern natürlich heißt, dass man sich mit den Nachbarländern abstimmt. Also tatsächlich auch ein gegenseitiges, ich sag mal, Vereinbarung getroffen wird, dass man da gemeinsam vorgeht.)) 

Conservatives say they prefer a negotiated solution—but would be willing to move ahead unilaterally if necessary.  

+++ Jens Spahn (CDU), Member of Negotiating Team +++ 
“It doesn’t say ‘agree,’ it says ‘coordination.’ That means there is communication. But we’re not making ourselves dependent on others agreeing to it.”   

 ((Da steht nicht Zustimmen, sondern in Abstimmung. Das heißt, man spricht miteinander. Aber man macht sich nicht abhängig von der Zustimmung des Anderen.)) 

The underlying logic: anyone entering Germany by land comes from a safe country,—and therefore doesn’t need protection here.

But turning people away at the border remains controversial—and legally unclear.

+++ SOT Daniel Thym, Immigration Law Expert +++ 
 " That is tricky indeed, and it's very difficult to give a definite answer. There are some arguments in support of refusal of entry at the border. There are many other legal arguments who oppose it. At the end of the day, it will be up for courts to decide. " 

Migration remains a top concern for voters, which is why Conservatives and Social Democrats are under pressure to get coordination figured out, and take action.