BERLIN: German deputies yesterday criticised calls by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies to toughen social welfare laws after immigration restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals are lifted on January 1. Anticipating an influx of Bulgarians and Romanians, the Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats, drew up a list of proposals to make it more difficult for poor newcomers to draw state benefits.
Included in the measures to be discussed at a party meeting in early January are bids to restrict all welfare payments for the first three months after arriving in Germany and tougher penalties for fraud including deportation and refusal of future re-entry.
The state-run Research Institute for the Federal Employment Agency estimates that the number of Romanians and Bulgarians in Germany could rise to between 470,000 and 550,000 from 370,000 today with the new rules. AFP
