BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The SPD and FDP have reached an agreement on Internet investigation measures and tenancy law, thereby reaching a compromise on two of their most important points of contention. "The blockade is over," said the SPD parliamentary group on Wednesday. FDP MP Thorsten Lieb announced: "The coalition has agreed on the 'Quick Freeze' procedure at cabinet level." This means that data will now be stored in a legally secure and ad hoc manner. The agreement also includes the extension of the rent freeze in tight housing markets until 2029, as provided for in the coalition agreement. This is the Ampel's response to the ongoing difficult situation on many housing markets.

With the "quick freeze" procedure, data is only stored if there is a suspicion of a criminal offense of significant importance - such as murder or manslaughter. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) believes that this is not enough. She recently campaigned for a new, legally compliant regulation for the storage of telecommunications traffic and location data without cause. Due to legal uncertainties, the old regulation on data retention has not been used since 2017.

For months, the SPD in the Bundestag has been calling for more action from Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann to protect against soaring rents. The FDP politician has not yet initiated any of the projects agreed in the coalition agreement, criticized the deputy parliamentary group leaders Verena Hubertz and Dirk Wiese in February. Time is pressing. This is because the rent freeze expires at the end of 2025, for example, and the federal states need a year and a half in advance to extend it. The rent freeze ensures that, in principle, the rent may not be more than ten percent higher than the local comparative rent when a new rental agreement is concluded./abc/DP/stw