New Immigration Law Will Increase Growth Potential of German Economy - Minister

Germany's coalition parties have agreed on a new immigration law to bring in more skilled employees from countries outside the European Union, in a politically dangerous push to fulfill a record number of job vacancies and stabilize the public pension system.

The country’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has stated that the new immigration law will increase the growth potential of the German economy.

"With today's agreement, we have made it possible for the economic upswing to continue without an abrupt end, to increase and exploit our growth potential, and to strengthen our competitiveness as well as growth and prosperity. With this, we can stimulate additional economic growth by several tenths of a percent. This is quite a lot," Altmaier said during a news conference in Berlin.

Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD), Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) have presented the "cornerstones of the Immigration Reform Law," according to the Federal Press Conference.

In recent weeks, the coalition partners have been debating, in particular, about a "lane change" for asylum seekers.

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Germany is one of the countries most affected by the migration crisis in Europe, which broke out in 2015 with a huge influx of people fleeing armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

Germany currently has the largest share of migrants in terms of total population among EU states — 12 percent, according to the World Population Review.