The parties position themselves for the Bundestag election. Follow all developments in the news blog.
Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet sees neither a dissent between the CDU and CSU in the debate on tax cuts nor a contradiction in his statements on the Union’s election program. “The statements in the election manifesto are clear. That applies,” said the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister on Wednesday. “Of course this also applies between the CDU and CSU,” said Laschet. “We said there would be no tax hikes – that’s the big contrast to our competitors.”
In the summer, the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision on the solidarity surcharge is likely to be available. “We say: It is constitutionally required to abolish it at some point.” And when that happens, one wants to relieve small and medium incomes. “But not immediately after the election.” One is in the middle of the corona pandemic. “We will have to use our economic opportunities after the pandemic.” This is what the election program says, he said in the ARD summer interview.
Laschet said on ARD on Sunday that he saw “at the moment” no scope for tax breaks, “we don’t have the money for that”. CSU boss Markus Söder, on the other hand, said on Wednesday that the demand for tax relief was “in black and white” in the joint election program on which the CDU and CSU had agreed. On Thursday, Laschet is a guest at the retreat of the CSU members of the Bundestag in the Seeon Abbey in Upper Bavaria.
There the CSU also wants to resolve its demand to double the employee savings allowance. “Anyone who wants to make provisions for tomorrow needs our support today,” said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt of the German press agency. According to the proposals of the CSU, the limit values and the maximum funding amounts for the employee savings allowance should double. The current limits for home loan and savings contracts (17,900 euros) and share savings plans (20,000 euros) “we want to increase uniformly to 40,000 euros”.
SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans accused the Union’s candidate for chancellor of confusing statements about tax relief. “Today Armin Laschet suddenly says: there is no tax cut or tax increase, he has probably recalculated what the CDU and CSU have promised their clientele in the meantime,” said Walter-Borjans Augsburger Allgemeine. “Armin Laschet presents cabbage and beets, there can be no talk of a concept for him.” Specifically, Walter-Borjans complained that the CDU and CSU election manifestos called for the abolition of the solidarity surcharge, but Laschet had rejected tax cuts in the ARD interview. (07/14/2021)
Greens: “We are the underdogs”
With slogans such as “Economy and climate without a crisis”, the Greens want to present themselves as a party for optimists in their campaign for the federal election. “Our country can do a lot if you let it,” reads another slogan on the election posters. For the first time, the Greens also want to target voters who are older than 60 with their campaign. Traditionally, the Greens get a lot of votes, especially from younger voters.
In terms of their capacities, the Greens see themselves as outsiders in the election campaign. “We are the underdogs,” said federal managing director Michael Kellner on Monday at the presentation of his party’s campaign. The election campaign budget of the Greens is only a good twelve million euros, while the CDU speaks of spending around 20 million euros. Kellner said it only had 117,000 members, while the SPD and Union had more than 400,000.
However, the number of members of the Greens has almost doubled compared to the time before the 2017 federal election. Kellner also spoke of a high level of mobilization within the party: This can be seen, for example, from the fact that the local party branches have ordered three times as many posters from headquarters as they did back then, and donations have even increased fivefold.
Kellner attacked the CDU and CSU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet: It was a “serious mistake” that he rejected a “school and daycare summit” in the Corona crisis and referred to the jurisdiction of the countries. Politicians must concentrate on children and young people, and that requires “a coordinated and energetic approach,” said Kellner. At the same time, Laschet’s summer interview on Sunday on ARD showed that it was still completely unclear how the Union wanted to achieve the internationally agreed climate targets. In addition, the CDU chief distanced himself from his own election platform when he said that tax cuts could not be afforded at the moment. In fact, the Union is planning to relieve the burden on the rich, for example by abolishing the solidarity surcharge. (07/12/2021)
Scheuer rejects speed limit: “For some a fetish”
Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer has clearly rejected calls for a speed limit on motorways in the federal election campaign. “The argument for a general speed limit is a political instrument of warfare, for some even a fetish,” said the CSU politician of the German press agency. “When choosing, citizens can decide whether they want freedom of mobility – or restrictions and bans. And the Greens are right at the front.”
The minister emphasized that the system of recommended recommended speed of 130 kilometers per hour had proven its worth. About a third of the motorway network also already has a speed limit. “With alternative drives, automation and autonomous driving, the average speed will drop anyway.” It is currently 117 kilometers per hour. “The German autobahns are the safest roads in the world. We tend to have problems with road safety on country roads, that is what our focus must be,” said Scheuer.
In their election manifestos, the SPD and the Greens are demanding a general limit of 130 kilometers per hour on motorways, while the Left wants a maximum speed of 120. Union, FDP and AfD expressly reject a general speed limit. Scheuer also opposed making Tempo 30 the rule in urban areas and the previously applicable Tempo 50 the exception. “A general, area-wide Tempo 30 in city centers is too general for me.” (07/12/2021)
SPD calls Laschet statements “fog candle”
The SPD has referred to statements by Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet about the participation of landlords in additional CO₂ costs for heating as a “smoke candle”. Sören Bartol, deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said: “I don’t trust Armin Laschet. We could have divided the additional costs fairly long ago. Until recently, the real estate lobbyists within the CDU parliamentary group fought a fair distribution.”
Laschet has made it clear that landlords must expect to be involved in the additional costs in the future. “The current solution that the landlord does practically nothing will not last,” said Laschet on Sunday in the ARD “summer interview”. In the short term, just no other solution was conceivable, he added.
The federal government announced a compromise in mid-May: in future, landlords should bear half the costs of the CO₂ price that has been in effect since January 1st. The project failed due to the veto of the Union faction in the Bundestag. Bartol said the Union ministers had also been in favor of a 50/50 split. “So I wonder where Armin Laschet has been in the last few months. And where this change of heart suddenly comes from. For me, this is nothing more than a smoke candle. The real policy of the Union shows: Armin Laschet has nothing left for tenants, they are sitting alone on the costs. The responsibility for this is borne by his CDU. “
The owner association Haus & Grund criticized Laschet’s statements: “It would be wrong to relax the polluter-pays principle for the CO₂ price in tenancy law,” said Gerold Happ, member of the federal management board. “Landlords have no influence on the heating behavior and hot water consumption of tenants.” Both are decisive for CO₂ emissions and the resulting costs. As a result, the CO₂ price must also reach the tenants in order to develop a steering function. (07/12/2021)
Laschet: Neither tax increases nor tax cuts make sense at the moment
Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet sees no scope for both tax increases and tax cuts in the current situation. First of all, it is important how to get better income for the state again after the pandemic, said the CDU boss on Sunday in the ARD “summer interview”. During the crisis, a lot of money was used to maintain liquidity in companies so that they could invest again now if possible. “Raising taxes now would be exactly the wrong approach. We have to get back to economic growth.” This and a return to full employment will earn more money. Tax increases would be poison at the moment. Laschet added that there was not a single tax relief in the Union’s election manifesto. “The basic message is: tax breaks at the moment, we don’t have the money.”
The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister confirmed that he would like to move to Berlin even in the event of a defeat in the federal election. “We’re not talking about defeat now, but I’m coming to Berlin,” he said. Laschet also assured a fair election campaign. There are big changes to be made. Germany is facing a change of epoch and should come back to factual debates. “As far as I am concerned, this election campaign, like all of my election campaigns, will be fair. I do not think that you should attack your opponent personally, but rather that you should fight hard on the matter.” (07/11/2021)