Germany is a federal parliamentary republic. The country is a member of the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the G8, and the G20, and has ratified the Kyoto Protocol for the protection of the environment. The Head of State is the President, elected by absolute majority by the Federal Assembly, an institution made up of members of the Lower House (Bundestag) and the same number of state delegates. The members of the bicameral legislative body are elected by universal suffrage in fair and free elections. Every four years, the representatives of the Bundestag are elected by means of a combination of direct voting and candidates from the party lists. The Federal Council (Bundesrat) represents the Lnder (federal states), which have an important degree of autonomy in terms of laws, education, the environment and social services. The members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the Lnder. Women hold 32.8% of the Bundestag's 622 seats and make up 21.7% of the Bundesrat's 69 members. The Bundestag elects the Chancellor who is head of the government and the post has been held by Angela Merkel (CDU/CSU right) since 2005, having been re-elected in 2009. During her first term, she enjoyed a high level of support (around 60%) although in 2009 she won with only 33.8% of the vote, requiring her to form a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Both legally and in practice, the judiciary is independent. Freedom of speech and of the press is guaranteed by law, and the media express a wide variety of views without any restrictions. Public information is not regulated by federal law, although four Lnder have legislated on the issue. Incitement of racial hatred, expressing support for Nazism and denial of the Holocaust, both in writing and on the Internet, are all prohibited, while the classification of
"dangerous content" also prohibits child pornography and extremist propaganda. The government participates in international efforts against Internet hate propaganda, and some Internet service providers have been instructed to block access to prohibited content. Conferences, marches and protests have been impeded by legal orders on account of the language used to advertise them or the content of their messages being covered by the law. An antiterrorism law came into force in January 2009 giving the German authorities more power to carry out undercover surveillance activities, including remote and secret searches of equipment via the Internet. The law also includes provisions which challenge the right of journalists to protect their sources.

As an effect of the global crisis, in 2009 the country suffered its worst recession since the Second World War; however from 2010 the German economy began to show signs of recovery, with economic growth for 2010 reaching 3.4%, almost double that of the rest of the Eurozone. In spite of its expansion into the markets of emerging economies, more than 40% of German exports are still destined for countries in the Eurozone. This means that the approval of austerity programmes in other European countries will necessarily influence demand for German products in the region and could halt the growth of the German economy, unless internal consumption is maintained and expands to compensate for losses in exports.

Migrant workers The flow of immigrants into Germany rose after the Second World War when the country signed recruitment treaties with various countries, such as Turkey, for temporary workers who provided the manpower required to reconstruct the economy and infrastructure which had been destroyed during the war. However, as Germany aspired for its immigration to be temporary, it failed to design a solid policy for integration, in spite of the fact that many foreign workers settled permanently in the country. Additionally, even though Germany resisted recognizing itself as a country with high immigration until recently, in 2007 its population included 7 million foreigners and 15 million people with.

Following the approval of a new immigration law, the right for immigrants to attend integration courses was recognised. The courses comprise 630 hours, 600 of which are focused on learning the German language, with the remaining time being used to provide an orientation to the history of Germany, its culture and its political system. However, a recent study seems to indicate that work experience in Germany is a more important factor than language when it comes to finding a job. The participation of female immigrants in the labour market is low, partly owing to a former immigration policy which did not allow the wives of immigrants to work. Furthermore, while the new legislation provides them with access to the labour market, in 2007 the unemployment rate among Turkish women continued to be just under 40%. Given these circumstances, the creation of programmes to incorporate such women into the labour market would result in an increase in the countrys economically active population and contribute to gender equality among immigrant communities.

Public education is available free of charge up to university level and is compulsory from ages 6 to 16, with financial assistance being available to families in cases of hardship. A federal commission guarantees a standardised programme of studies throughout the nation. After 4 years of primary school, extensive testing determines subsequent schooling. Almost 50% of pupils continue to the Hauptschule for 5 years, followed by a 3-year vocational training programme which includes work experience. Pupils who wish to continue to university must first attend Gymnasien (grammar schools), with admission to university determined by means of an entrance exam. Danish, Frisian and Sorbian communities may study in their mother tongue.

Baden Wuerttemberg was the first Land to prohibit the wearing of the Islamic veil (hijab) by teachers in public schools, a decision which was backed by the Federal Administrative Court. German Muslims are permitted to use Islamic scarves to cover themselves in public schools since according to the German government, to do otherwise would constitute an attack on religious freedom. Teaching staff however, are another matter. In a number of federal states, the use of scarves and veils is prohibited by law and in some the restriction extends to any other item of clothing or symbol which expresses political and religious convictions so as to avoid violation of the neutrality of the state towards pupils and their parents. In Berlin and Hesse, this prohibition extends to all public sector workers and in Bavaria the presence of religious symbols is prohibited, with the exception of crucifixes in classrooms or the habits of nuns, as they are deemed to be professional uniforms. In contrast, Hamburg allows teachers to wear the hijab and is working with the Muslim community to establish inter-faith education in public schools.

A 3-year programme begins at the age of 3. At this level 54% of education is private and the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) is 110%.

Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 18. Primary school begins at 6 and lasts for 4 years. 49% of students are female and 3% of primary education is private. Of the students who enrol in Grade 1, 99% reach the last grade of primary school and 2% of students repeat grades. There are 235,179 primary teachers (83% female), with a pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) of 13:1.

Secondary education begins at the age of 10 and lasts for 9 years. 7% of secondary education is private and 20% of students study in technical vocational programmes. The GER is 102% and 3% of students repeat grades. There are 595,385 secondary teachers (55% female): 420,402 (50% female) in lower secondary and 174,986 (43% female) in upper secondary schools. The PTR is 13:1 in lower secondary and 16:1 in upper secondary.

There are some 860 further education institutions for adults, such as the Volkshochschulen (the people's universities), which provide extramural studies for approximately 5.2 million adults every year. There are 290,429 teachers (34% female) employed in tertiary education institutes. Foreign students come to study in Germany from the following countries: Central and Eastern Europe (105,371), North America and Western Europe (55,946), Asia (59,705), the Arab States (18,572),Sub-Saharan Africa (10,783) and Latin America and the Caribbean (7,424). Similarly, German students study abroad, above all in the UK (12,096), the USA (8,745), France (6,698), Switzerland (5,823) and Austria (5,657).

Discrimination against disabled people is prohibited in education and in other state services. Federal and Lnder programmes establish subsidies for companies recruiting disabled people and provide professional training courses. People with severe disabilities receive special benefits although a European Union Directive (2000) establishing a general framework for discrimination and equal treatment in the workplace has not yet been fully implemented, with the German government maintaining that its current legislation provides the necessary protection. Germany has worked to include more children living with disabilities in universal education, improving teacher training for working with them, raising awareness of available recovery methods and improving coordination between professional training, regular schools, welfare and medical services.

The country did not sign the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. New immigration laws facilitate the deportation of suspected terrorists and those who incite hatred, and exclude violations of gender and persecution by non state agents from the list of reasons for granting asylum. Accepted refugees receive housing and other social security benefits and their children have access to education. The law governing support for refugees, which was modified in 2007, restricts support to 65% of the level of public assistance.

Refugees from the war in former Yugoslavia obtained permission to work after having spent a year in the country. Following an agreement reached between the German government and Kosovo in April 2010, Germany began the repatriation of 13,000 Kosovan refugees to the newly independent Balkan republic. Around 8,500 of these were gypsies.

Germany is a country of transit and destination for women, men and children who are victims of people trafficking, prostitution and forced labour. Germany prohibits all forms of trafficking, and sexual exploitation and forced labour are classified as offences in sections 232 and 233, respectively, of its Penal Code. The law establishes prison sentences of between six months and ten years for such offences although it is common practice for German judges to award suspended sentences for two years or less for all offences, including people trafficking. Almost a quarter of those identified as victims of people trafficking were children. Victims of forced labour can found working in restaurants, hotels, domestic services and construction sites. The German police estimate that trafficking gangs have smuggled around 1,000 Chinese people in the last decade, forcing them to work in restaurants under conditions of poverty and exploitation. Members of ethnic minorities such as the Roma, as well as unaccompanied foreign children, are especially vulnerable to people trafficking. The German government complies with the minimum standards for the eradication of trafficking and has made considerable progress in tackling the problem of forced labour. However, available statistics indicate that a significant number of those convicted of perpetrating such offences do not complete their sentence and that punishments are not sufficient to deter traffickers nor do they fully reflect the nature of the offence.

In Germany, violent or aggressive acts related to ideology, nationality, ethnic origin, skin colour, religion, sexual orientation, disability and social appearance or status are classified as politically motivated offences. The languages and cultures of national and ethnic minorities considered as traditional to Germany are promoted, such as Sorbian, Danish, Roma and Frisian.
The Roma community is recognised as an official national minority, but in contrast to other recognised minorities, it still lacks sufficient legal protection, political status or reserved representation in public institutions. Local governments have confirmed that they are unable to maintain their commitments to the Roma language as it is oral and not written. Reports have pointed out that Roma language schools are inefficient since the Roma population is geographically dispersed throughout the length and breadth of the country.
There remains a significant gap between the educational achievement of immigrant pupils and native Germans. Poverty and other socio-economic obstacles restrict the educational possibilities of immigrants and differences persist, even between children with the same general socio-economic background. Similarly, young people of immigrant origin face more difficulties than their German peers when it comes to pursuing professional training which allows them access to a earning a good living.

Academic freedom is not restricted by law and nor is access to the Internet.
However, on 31st July 2007, Prof. Andrej Holm at the Humboldt University in Berlin was arrested under suspicion of supporting an organization suspected of being behind more than 25 incendiary attacks in Berlin since 2001. The Federal Prosecution arrested Prof. Holm under paragraph 129 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, citing the repeated use of language in his academic writing similar to those used by the urban activist organisation Militante Gruppe(MG). According to the EI member organisation, Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW, The German Education Union), "to be pursued by the Federal Prosecution is a direct threat to all those who pursue and publicly defend critical studies in the sciences and humanities. It is a clear violation of academic freedom.

Men and women are legally equal and the law stipulates payment of the same wage for a job of equal or equivalent value. However, a significant gender pay gap continues to exist and women are paid less than men in addition to occupying fewer managerial positions and many low-paid jobs. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, the average hourly wage for women in Germany is 23.2% less than for men, and the gap is widening. In 2010, with the publication of the Euro Gender Equality Barometer, the European Commission asked Germany to take vigorous action to eliminate this difference. Germany, together with Holland, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Luxembourg and the UK is one of the countries in which the number of women working part time and the gender pay gap are highest.
Violence against women is prohibited by law although the problem persists and is hardly reported. Campaigns in schools aim to raise awareness of gender violence among pupils. Prostitution is legal, and prostitutes have access to the social security system. There are reports mentioning the existence of sexual harassment against women in the workplace.

The employment of children under the age of 15 is prohibited, with some exceptions: 13 and 14 year olds are permitted to carry out agricultural labour for 3 hours a day or deliver newspapers for 2 hours a day, while children between 3 and 14 are allowed to participate in cultural events, although with strict restrictions on the duration of the work allowed. Child sexual abuse by German citizens abroad is punishable, including when the action is not illegal in the country of the minor. The trafficking of girls continues to be a serious problem.

While social relations are stable, some employers maintain an anti-union stance and negotiations continue with unions who have few members and whose representation is extremely low. However, the area of greatest concern continues to be the lack of union rights for public sector workers.
Workers have the right to join and form trade unions. 23% of employees are unionised and these are largely represented by 8 sector unions. The Confederation of German Trade Unions, represents 80% of unionised workers. Collective bargaining is widespread thanks to a well developed system although public sector employees (such as teachers) and essential services workers are not entitled to strike. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has requested clarification of the laws concerning the labour rights of civil servants, pointing out restrictions which are not in line with ILO Convention 87. Those not allowed to strike have legal recourse to protect their rights.
Forced or compulsory labour is prohibited, but reportedly occurs among victims of trafficking. No legal minimum wage exists. Wages established by collective bargaining provide a decent standard of living for a worker and their family. Federal law limits the working week to a maximum of 48 hours.

Sources: