(de-news.net) – Sonja Eichwede, deputy chair of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary group, has publicly expressed her endorsement of the federal coalition’s proposal to grant the German government the authority to designate safe countries of origin for asylum purposes through executive regulation, rather than through the conventional legislative process. This shift in procedural responsibility, according to Eichwede, reflects a pragmatic adaptation of existing legal mechanisms and is consistent with broader European regulatory frameworks. Media reports indicate that she rejected concerns regarding the constitutionality of the proposed change, arguing that European law provides sufficient legal basis for such a modification in administrative practice.

Under the current legal arrangement, as outlined in Article 16a of Germany’s Basic Law, the classification of countries as safe in the context of asylum claims must be enacted through formal legislation, which requires approval by the Bundesrat. Eichwede emphasized that the determining factor in such classifications should not be the institutional body responsible for the decision — whether it be the federal government or the legislative chambers — but rather the substantive criteria applied to assess a country’s safety status under asylum law. She reportedly stressed that the proposed reform would not alter these underlying standards, which she described as the essential element of continuity and legal integrity within the asylum framework.