A rapid increase in the numbers of individuals seeking asylum in the early part of the 1990s prompted German lawmakers to impose new criteria and procedures for considering asylum applications in 1993. Some prominent members of the Christian Democratic Union argue further revisions in Germany's asylum policies are needed and that the revisions should take account of increased economic migration. In late 1999, the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, proposed lifting the constitutional guarantee of asylum to victims of political persecution entirely. The governing SPD-Green coalition has come out against linking asylum and migration policy and any curtailment on the promise of asylum given in the Federal Republic's constitution. The integration of foreigners within German society has been the subject of recurring debate over the years - a debate that is as much about the Germans' visions of themselves as about the foreigners who make their homes in Germany.
Critics contend the term bespeaks an arrogance bordering on xenophobic intolerance.
Defenders counter that it is merely a shorthand expression for something that is actually a matter of course. The European Dimension Immigration falls under national jurisdiction within the European Union, but as Germany's migration figures make clear, EU law and policy have considerable bearing on the issue. The EU recently adopted a series of reform measures so that it can begin accepting new member states as of 2003. With the accession of new members, the number of potential immigrants will grow rapidly. A similar transition period, Schr der noted, was enacted when Spain and Portugal joined the then European Community in 1985.