Action plan against abuse of social benefits: tougher action planned

It is a clear announcement from the Labor Minister: “We do not tolerate exploitation and abuse of social benefits,” says Bärbel Bas. The SPD politician wants to take tougher action - namely "with all the means at my disposal."

She has put what she is planning into an action plan together with the Interior Minister. The document, which is available to the ARD capital studio, has eight pages. In it: 37 points on how they want to get to grips with the abuse of social benefits in particular, which is linked to EU immigration.

After the coalition committee at the beginning of July, the leaders of the black-red government announced an action plan against abuse of social benefits. “Anyone who abuses the system must expect consequences,” Bas said at the time. She will present a “consistent plan”.

A catalog has now been developed together with the Ministry of the Interior. Key points: Municipalities should be given the opportunity to take better action against so-called junk properties. Employers who rely on undeclared work should also be held more liable and anyone who is wanted with an enforceable arrest warrant should no longer be able to receive basic security.

Above all, a nuisance of many job center employees should be addressed: the previously limited data exchange between the authorities should be improved. Such data comparison can make it easier to track down unreported mini-jobs, for example.

Artificial intelligence should also help and comb through the data: using “safe, trustworthy and non-discriminatory AI-supported analysis systems,” the paper says, more cases of abuse will be tracked down. In order to simplify this, the identification number should be stored in all registers relevant to social benefits and the municipal job centers should be obliged to exchange data.

The fact that social fraudsters collect excessive rents for run-down junk properties from job centers should also come to an end. The building code should be changed so that municipal employees have easier access to buildings that may be affected. There should be new, limited options for expropriation if owners do not modernize. In addition, the reporting law should be clarified in order to avoid landlords over-occupying the rooms.

Abuse in EU immigration should also be restricted: "What is not possible is to exploit freedom of movement to exploit people and exploit their distress for organized abuse," says Bas. The aim is to avoid immigrants from EU countries working on a very small scale or being registered in fictitious employment relationships in order to then claim social benefits. Laws should be changed here to prevent criminal structures and exploitation.

The municipalities are waiting for the action plan. Cities in the Ruhr area in particular, such as Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg, have been complaining about the problem for years and feel left alone by the federal government. They often report cases in which entire families from Bulgaria and Romania are registered in the Ruhr area and in some cases receive large amounts of social benefits such as child benefit and housing benefit. During checks, it turns out that those affected no longer live locally and have done so for years.

In the background, professional gangs are seen who bring so-called poverty migrants from Eastern Europe to Germany in an organized manner, accommodate them in their own, sometimes run-down properties, provide them with fictitious employment contracts and then skim off social benefits. Bärbel Bas, who comes from Duisburg, declared war on such gangs at the beginning of her term in office. But their concrete plans were a long time coming.

The cabinet is expected to approve the action plan of the Federal Ministry of Labor and the Federal Ministry of the Interior this month. The measures could then be implemented by the end of the year.