The new Citizenship law: Administrative dimensions and consequences for society

This workshop was organised by the efms in co-operation with the Akademie für Politische Bildung in Tutzing and took place on 15 - 16 June 1999.

At the beginning of May the federal Parliament passed the law on the reform of the former Citizenship Law. Apart from the introduction of ius soli elements, the new regulations made it considerably easier to become naturalized. Following the political debates prior to the adoption, the focus is now on how to implement in practice the new law: Does the administrations in charge face new tasks and how do they look like? Can an increase in naturalisation applications be expected and how can this be managed? How will the requirements for naturalisation be examined? Which problems might be caused by implementing the newly introduced "Options model"?

Apart from the administrative dimension, the consequences for the German society are to be discussed. What role does naturalisation play in the overall integration process? How do migrants assess the new naturalisation regulations? Could the acceptance of naturalisation in the host society be increased by introducing citizenship courses?

The workshop programme

• Welcome address by Klaus Grosch, Tutzing / Karl-Heinz Willenborg, Tutzing
• Introduction to the topic by Prof. Friedrich Heckmann, efms Bamberg
  
• The new citizenship law: The legal dimension, by Martin Jungnickel, Darmstadt
  

  Presentation of the new naturalisation law in comparison to the former provisions

• Citizenship laws in a comparative European perspective, by Verónica Tomei, efms Bamberg
• The new provision for naturalisation: The societal dimension, by Prof. Friedrich Heckmann, efms Bamberg
  

  The role of naturalisation in the integration process, problems of acceptance

• The new provisions for naturalisations from the migrants' point of view, by Cumali Naz, chairman of the foreigners' council of Munich
• The new provisions for naturalisations from the consulates' point of view, by a representative of the Turkish General Consulate in Munich
• The new provisions for naturalisations: New tasks for the administration (I): Statistical overview on current naturalisation trends, by Harald Lederer, efms Bamberg
• The new provisions for naturalisations: New tasks for the administration (II): Report on the administrative implementation (length of proceedings, documents, etc.), by Dorotheas Koller, Office for Public Order (Amt für öffentliche Ordnung) Stuttgart
• new provisions for naturalisations: New tasks for the administration (III): Implementation of the new law, by Dr. W. Suckow, KVR München / Margit Dietert, city of Nuremberg
  

  Changes in practice, e.g. are the various levels in the administration facing new problems caused by a potential increase in the number of applications? How will in future the requirements for naturalisation be checked? How will the so-called "Options model" be implemented?

• Naturalisation Courses: Discussion of the efms concept, by Tanja Wunderlich, efms Bamberg
  

  Presentation of the concept, comparison with the Netherlands and the United States