The name is complicated, but the State Development Program or LEP, as politicians, civil servants and experts call it for short, is nothing less than the state government’s master plan for a bright future in Bavaria. Its most important goal is to create equivalent living and working conditions in all parts of the Free State. The state parliament Greens are now demanding a new LEP.
A revision of individual chapters, as is currently being worked on in the Ministry of Economic Affairs by Free Voter boss Hubert Aiwanger, is not enough, according to the Greens parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann. “The LEP in its current form opens the door to further destruction of our livelihoods,” he says. “The surface consumption continues, the protection of our drinking water remains inadequate, there is no rethinking of mobility policy, and there is a lack of personnel for a momentum in the expansion of wind power. That is why we are calling for an immediate restart.”
“Equal living conditions and strong communities,” “Climate change” and “Sustainable mobility” are the three topics in the LEP that are currently being revised. The state government presented the first draft at the end of 2021. In the meantime, two written hearings by associations, municipalities, companies, scientific institutions and the like have taken place. The criticism is massive.
“Many principles act as wishes without clarity as to who should fulfill them,” says the Bavarian Association of Cities. According to the assessment of the association of municipal companies, “the hesitant attitude of the state government on the issues of climate protection and climate adaptation is also clear in this LEP draft”. And the DGB writes: “The current partial update of the LEP (…) does not do justice to the social and ecological challenges in the Free State.” For the Greens, the intended update is not sufficient. They demand a completely new LEP. First of all, of course, they have to be satisfied with being heard again. At their pressure, it takes place in the Economic Committee of the State Parliament. However, the date is still unclear.