Germany pushes for citizenship reforms to tackle labor crunch

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) – Germany is forging ahead with plans to reform its outdated citizenship law, a move rooted in the country’s drive to attract qualified workers to address a worsening dearth of skilled labor.

The changes also aim to enhance integration and participation of immigrants, who remain largely underrepresented in the political sphere.

The figures on Germany’s labor crunch present a damning picture.

Just over 43% of German companies reported a shortage of skilled workers this January, inching down from an all-time high of nearly 50% last July, according to data from Ifo Institute, one of the country’s largest think-tanks.

The issue affects companies across the service, industry and construction sectors, with health care, childcare, engineering, and IT being particular areas of concern.

When the government put forward a plan in March, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said securing the “skilled labor base is one of Germany’s greatest economic tasks for the next few decades.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government is aiming to finalize the draft law before the summer holidays, after which it will be submitted for parliamentary approval.

Canan Bayram, an experienced lawmaker from the co-ruling Greens Party, told Anadolu that the planned reform would simplify the process and enable multiple citizenship for immigrants.

“I’m hopeful we will soon get a very good legislation, and we will make life easier for immigrants here,” she said.

“I worked as a lawyer, and I know that the current law, with restrictions on dual citizenship, creates many problems for immigrants, either here or in their country of origin.”

According to official statistics, over 9 million foreign citizens have lived and worked long enough in the country to apply for German citizenship, but remain reluctant to do so, most of them put off by tedious bureaucratic procedures or strict regulations.

Bayram underlined that Germany’s existing citizenship law is unfair toward particular immigrant groups, especially Turkish citizens.

Germany has a 3 million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are children or grandchildren of workers who immigrated in the 1960s.

Around 1.5 million of them still do not have German citizenship due to discriminatory legislation.

Turkish citizens have been unwilling to apply as they do not want to give up their nationality, said Bayram.

“Multiple citizenship has been possible for any person coming from European Union countries, for Americans, but denied for many others. We’re saying that this law, this practice is wrong,” she said.

“In fact, this law was long known to be legislation aimed at Turks. That was a law discriminating against Turkish citizens. Now we’re putting an end to this, we’re changing it.”

- ‘It’s also about political participation’

Many immigrant groups, including Turkish citizens, often find themselves in a disadvantaged situation in the German labor market, and while dealing with bureaucratic matters.

They are also underrepresented in political life, as many of them cannot vote in local or national elections.

Mikolaj Ciechanowicz, a senior expert on immigration, said reforming the law would definitely address these problems by enhancing integration and political participation.

“This is an overdue reform that has been expected and hoped for by many people for many years,” he told Anadolu.

After the reform, many immigrants would likely apply for German citizenship, said Ciechanowicz.

“Maybe it’s better to use the term participation. This would enhance participation, it’s also about political participation, and it is a point that is now being addressed with this reform,” he said.

Ciechanowicz, who is the manager of non-profit organization Deutschlandstiftung Integration, said acquiring German citizenship strengthens the feeling of belonging to the country.

“If the majority of society sends a signal that they are welcome, that we are all natural citizens here, and we want to and can live together on this basis, then a big step forward would be taken. And that is why I support, and Deutschlandstiftung Integration supports, these steps,” he said.

In each year over the past decade, the number of immigrants becoming citizens in Germany has been under 170,000. In 2022, a total of 168,545 foreigners acquired German citizenship.

Ciechanowicz said Germany is currently facing a significant shortage of skilled workers, and reforming citizenship and immigration legislation is also important to address this major problem.

“I believe that Germany has an existential interest in enabling immigration, as much and as targeted as possible, and this step towards modern immigration law and modern naturalization law is part of this package,” he said.

“Everyone knows about the problem of a shortage of skilled workers in Germany, and that we can only maintain our prosperity and our future with targeted and controlled immigration.”