The overview in short reports on developments, results and assessments relating to German politics:
Frei signals willingness for political reforms
After the dissolution of the Bundestag, the Parliamentary Managing Director of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU), called for an end to political navel-gazing and the introduction of necessary reforms. “The path to new elections has finally been paved. The Federal President is calling on politicians to devote themselves again to ‘problem solving’ and is thus putting his finger in the wound,” Frei told the Rheinische Post. For too long, the traffic light coalition has only revolved around itself. “This ongoing dispute had to be ended early,” emphasized the CDU politician. “The Union is ready to vigorously tackle the urgently needed reforms.” The CDU and CSU would use the election campaign to show a “new and better path for our country”.
Mützenich: New government must address the causes of traffic lights being turned off
Even with the new Bundestag election, the reasons for the break in the traffic light coalition remain, according to SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich. “Every new government will have to face the same challenges that caused the traffic light to fail,” he told the Germany editorial network. The government of the SPD, Greens and FDP was mainly broken by the financing of aid for Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia. “Any new government will have a problem if these funds have to be taken out of the core budget,” said Mützenich. He was convinced that the debt brake would be changed with the Union of Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU). “Mr Merz no longer rules it out,” he said.
SPD is planning significant improvements in parental allowance
After an election victory, the SPD wants to ensure significant improvements in parental allowance. Party leader Saskia Esken told the Rheinische Post: “Many families are under enormous pressure – rising living costs and parental benefits that have lost purchasing power are putting additional strain on them.” The SPD wants to change that. “With higher parental allowance, longer benefit periods and a clear focus on partnership sharing, we give parents the security they need in this crucial phase of life.” With the reform, parents should receive full parental allowance for up to 18 months instead of the current maximum of 14 months, wrote the Funke media group, citing a concept paper according to which the party would introduce a “6+6+6” model and thus “reflect the reality of life of millions of working parents.
President of the City Council wants to reform the debt brake
The President of the German Association of Cities, Markus Lewe, has spoken out in favor of reforming the debt brake. “After the new elections, the future federal government will not be able to avoid putting the debt brake to the test. If the debt brake prevents necessary future investments, it must be reformed,” said the CDU politician to the Funke media group. The municipalities alone have an investment backlog of more than 186 billion euros. “Schools and roads cannot be renovated quickly, new buses and trains cannot be purchased.
Crafts want continued employment of Syrian workers
The German craft sector has called on politicians not to deport trained and integrated Syrian employees to their homeland. “We should be happy about everyone who has integrated. Employers in the trades expect that they can continue to employ their Syrian employees as important skilled workers permanently and reliably,” said trades president Jörg Dittrich to the Rheinische Post. “Many of them have trained them with great effort. And: We are still desperately looking for skilled workers in the trades,” emphasized the President of the Central Association of German Crafts (ZDH). The Skilled Immigration Act is “unfortunately not yet effective to the extent that it is necessary,” said Dittrich. There are bottlenecks in issuing visas and in the immigration authorities.
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December 27, 2024 09:12 ET (14:12 GMT)