Decision-Making Archives - Page 15 of 29

Sleeping On It

überschlafen — To sleep on something. Duden defines it as thinking over a matter that needs a decision, and taking time for it at least until the next day. Das muss ich erst noch überschlafen. I have to sleep on that first.

sich Bedenkzeit erbitten — To ask for time to think. Ich habe mir bis morgen Bedenkzeit erbeten. I have asked for time to think until tomorrow.

Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat. — When time comes, advice comes. With time, a solution will be found.

Blinder Eifer schadet nur. — Blind zeal only does harm.

Twenty-Four Hours to Comment

Before the federal government sends a bill to the Bundestag, the ministry asks associations for their opinion. This is the Verbändeanhörung. The rules of procedure of the federal ministries require that associations be involved in good time, but they leave the length of the deadline to the ministry. In August 2023, the Chancellery gave associations a little more than 24 hours to comment on an 88-page draft of the law on the foreign intelligence service. Reporters Without Borders called it ein Trauerspiel, a sad spectacle. The critics asked for Gründlichkeit vor Schnelligkeit, thoroughness before speed. A paper published by the association Mehr Demokratie in May 2024 looked at 496 bills. The average deadline was 15.4 working days. The authors proposed at least four weeks.

The Master Requirement, Removed and Restored

In 2004, Germany abolished the master requirement, the Meisterpflicht, for 53 crafts. Among tile layers, the number of businesses then rose from about 12,400 to more than 70,000. The number of apprentices fell by 67 percent. The association of turners said it had lost a complete generation of journeymen and masters.

On 14 February 2020, a new law came into force that restored the requirement for 12 of these crafts, among them tile layers, parquet layers, interior decorators and organ builders. The federal government said it was responding to falling numbers of apprentices and falling quality.

Eight Days for 414 Objections

In the approval procedure for Tesla’s factory in Grünheide, near Berlin, 414 people and associations filed objections. The public hearing on them began on 23 September 2020 in the civic hall of Erkner. On the first day it did not get beyond questions of procedure. Three days had been planned. The hearing went on for eight days. Even so, critics said that it was ended too early, under pressure from the state environment ministry, and that not everyone had been heard.

Not Yet Ripe

entscheidungsreif — ripe for decision. Duden lists it as an example of the suffix -reif, for something developed far enough to qualify for something.

beschlussreif — ripe for a resolution.

kabinettsreif — ready for the cabinet.

Das ist noch nicht spruchreif. — That is not yet ripe for announcement.

nicht ausgereift — not fully ripened, said of a proposal that has not been thought through.

Wir haben noch Beratungsbedarf. — We still need to discuss this. The sentence stops a decision.

Der Teufel steckt im Detail. — The devil is in the detail.

A Hundred Pages Before the Judges Meet

At the Federal Constitutional Court, one judge prepares each case as rapporteur. He or she writes a Votum, a draft decision with the supporting material, and sends it to the other judges before they deliberate. A judge told the political scientist Uwe Kranenpohl: mehr als hundert Seiten ist durchaus normal, more than a hundred pages is quite normal. When the judges have reached their decision, they meet again to read the draft judgment. Kranenpohl writes: So ist mitunter die Leseberatung intensiver und länger als die eigentliche Entscheidungsberatung. The reading session is sometimes more intensive and longer than the deliberation on the decision itself.

Intended Effects and Unintended Side Effects

The explanatory memorandum of every federal bill must state its consequences. The joint rules of procedure of the federal ministries define them in one sentence. Sie umfassen die beabsichtigten Wirkungen und die unbeabsichtigten Nebenwirkungen. They include the intended effects and the unintended side effects. The memorandum must also say whether other solutions exist.

Checked Before the Cabinet

Before a federal bill goes to the cabinet, the joint rules of procedure of the federal ministries require it to be sent to the Ministry of Justice. The ministry checks it in rechtssystematischer und rechtsförmlicher Hinsicht, for its fit with the legal system and for correct legal form. In July 2024, a pharmacy reform from Health Minister Karl Lauterbach did not reach the cabinet. According to Lauterbach, the legal-form check by the Ministry of Justice had not been finished, and he pointed to the justice minister’s vacation. The Ministry of Justice replied: Die Urlaubsplanungen der Bundesminister haben darauf keinen Einfluss. The ministers’ vacation plans have no influence on it. In August 2024, the bill again missed the cabinet agenda. The Health Ministry said that internal government deliberations were still going on.

The Opponent on Eighty Pages

For the 2006 World Cup, students at the German Sport University in Cologne analyzed all the teams in the tournament. The Swiss scout Urs Siegenthaler started the project. For the next European Championship, each team was presented with its strengths and weaknesses auf gut 80 Seiten, on a good 80 pages, in dossiers that the national coach Joachim Löw could consult. The cooperation ended at the turn of 2022 to 2023. By the DFB’s count, about 1,000 students were trained, and the team worked on nine tournaments of the men’s national team. The DFB called its information elementar, essential, for the team’s match preparation.

The Orchestra Chooses Its Conductor

The Berlin Philharmonic was founded in 1882 by 54 musicians who wanted to govern and manage the orchestra themselves. The players elect their chief conductor. On 11 May 2015 they met to choose a successor to Simon Rattle. The meeting lasted eleven hours. After long discussions and several rounds of voting, there was no result. On 22 June 2015 it was announced that the orchestra had elected Kirill Petrenko.