The German government and its intelligence services don't have much shame left when it comes to withholding information.
Neither the fact that the country's foreign intelligence service BND was founded by a rabid Nazi general, nor the fact that the man "hoover"-ed up saucy details on the newly democratic politicians of his time, nor a stream of scandals (one every five or so years) has resulted in positive change.
The federal domestic spy service is not much better. After all, it is led by a gentleman who gained notoriety through a legal brief arguing a German resident held at Gitmo was not entitled to return to the country after release because he had been outside the country for more than the maximum six months allowed under German immigration law. In 2015, that German intel agency declared a "Confidential" doc a state secret in order to bring treason changes against a couple of bloggers. The effort backfired, but the gentleman still has his job.
The most recent installment in the BND saga even made it into arstechnica under the headline German spies violated law, must delete XKeyscore database - watchdog. But since the chief of the BND already lost his job, thus becoming the first and only victim of Mr. Snowden, nothing much will change. The German government already has a bill ready that simply legalizes the previously illegal.
As if that's not enough, a wonderful article in Zeit online brought to light how the German government nixes requests for information by members of parliament.
The line is simple: This is classified.
To fully appreciate the difference between the same line used in the U.S., you need a primer on the German system of classified information, notably the lowest level called "VS-NfD", which is "Classified - for official use only". It has no corresponding level in the U.S., and in German security circl slang, the "NfD" is often resolved to "Nur für Doofe".* Upwards of that, there are the usual confidential, secret, top secret, plus compartmented.
The beauty of having the plain "for official use only" designated as classified means that the toxic laws governing the handling and disclosure of classified information apply.
It is noteworthy that "VS-NfD" documents are not subject to the physical security requirements of the other levels. There is no sign in or sign out, no locking up in a safe, no armed guard for taking any such document for a stroll, etc.
"VS-NfD" sit, for example, on library shelves accessible to people who have not undergone a formal security background check.
The specific document used by the German government to go "sorry, classified" to silence requests that relate on the cooperation of the foreign & domestic & military intel agencies and police/law enforcement has the beautiful name "Richtlinien für die Zusammenarbeit der Verfassungsschutzbehörden, des Bundesnachrichtendienstes (BND), des Militärischen Abschirmdienstes (MAD), der Polizei und der Strafverfolgungsbehörden in Staatsschutzangelegenheiten (= Zusammenarbeitsrichtlinien) vom 18. September 1970 in der Fassung vom 23. Juli 1973, in Kraft getreten: 26. Juli 1973"
.
We spare you the translation. The current guidelines date from 1973 and are classified "VS-NfD" to this day.
That is enough to deny answers.
If you are curious and know enough bureaucratic German, the full text of the document was published in a 1979 textbook on German constitutional law.
Zeit online also reprinted the whole thing in its 6 September 2016 edition.
* For Dummies Only, or For Idiots Only.
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