Nieuwe Duitse immigratiewetgeving opent toegang arbeidsmarkt voor hoog opgeleiden (en)

After years of bitter wrangling between the Social Democrat coalition government and the Christian Democrat opposition, a new immigration law was passed in Germany last week.

The law, due to come into effect in 2005, was definitively adopted by the upper house of the German parliament (Bundesrat) on Friday.

It allows for the recruitment of highly skilled workers such as scientists, engineers and IT specialists. The highly-skilled bar was put it in by the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU).

In addition, entrepreneurs who invest at least a million euros and offer jobs to locals will also be allowed to work in Germany.

"The new law gives us the opportunity to take part in the race for the world's best brains", said German interior minister Otto Schily.

The law also requires that immigrants integrate more into German society. Immigrants coming to Germany for the long term must follow a course of 300 hours on language and civil and societal issues. Foreigners already settled in Germany must also take part in integration courses.

Balancing act

The law is a reflection of an uneasy balance between making Germany more competitive - its unemployment figures are near ten percent and it has an aging population - and taking into account security fears.

Fighting between the government and opposition parties was most acute on security issues - particularly in light of the Madrid terrorist attacks earlier this year.

In May, talks on the draft law almost collapsed when the Greens - also in government - threatened to abandon negotiations accusing the conservative of making too many demands about national security.

In the end, a compromise formula was agreed making it easier for immigration officials to deport people who preach hate - a formulation aimed at Islamic extremists in Germany.

It will also be easier to remove terror suspects from the country without trial.

According to Deutsche Welle, the CDU's chief negotiator Peter Müller said, "the law is a dramatic improvement".

"It creates more security and provides better opportunities for the integration of foreigners. We are now able to better channel and engineer immigration. In addition German fulfils its obligations regarding humanitarian and asylum issues", he added.