The Union firmly rejects the plan put forward by Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) to decriminalize fare evasion. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post” on Wednesday, Union parliamentary vice-chair Günter Krings stated, “One can only be surprised by this renewed proposal. It would be better if the Ministry of Justice focused more on the real problems within criminal law”. Krings added that the Union would not allow the decriminalization of fare evasion. According to the Union perspective, the issue is “not a stunt, but a jointly harmful criminal offense”. Furthermore, Krings noted that the ability for fare inspectors to detain a person of suspicion until the police arrive, based only on the fact that fare evasion is an offense, represents a significant drawback. He argued that “if controls without criminal law become meaningless, there would naturally be many more passengers without tickets. To offset this, the fares for everyone else would have to rise significantly” according to the legal expert. Krings concluded by asserting that such a policy is not sociallyminded, but rather “drives up costs for honest people”. He added that the matter was already discussed in detail during the coalition negotiations between the Union and the SPD, at which point it was abandoned. Meanwhile, Hubig receives support from the Left party. Clara Bünger, vice-chair of the Left parliamentary group, told the “Rheinische Post” that it is a “scandal that in this country, above all, poor people are still criminally prosecuted because they cannot afford a ticket”. She described this as “class justice”. However, she also asserted that the federal government cannot continue to ignore the actual problem-the unaffordable ticket prices-in its efforts to reduce fare evasion. Bünger suggested that “a return to the 9-euro ticket would be a sensible path”. She stressed, “We need an affordable ticket for everyone again, because mobility is a fundamental right and must not be a luxury”.
Union Firmly Rejects Plan to Decriminalize Fare Evasion
