Status: 11/24/2021 3:41 p.m.
“Dare to make more progress” – that is the goal of the SPD, Greens and FDP. In their coalition agreement, among other things, they want to bring the coal phase out to 2030, build 400,000 new apartments a year and increase the minimum wage to twelve euros per hour.
After around a month of negotiations, the SPD, Greens and FDP presented their coalition agreement. The traffic light parties presented the document with the title “Dare More Progress – Alliance for Freedom, Justice and Sustainability” to the public in the afternoon.
This means that an important hurdle has been overcome on the way to a government under the leadership of the previous Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It would be the first time that a so-called traffic light coalition governs at the federal level. The SPD politician emphasized: “The traffic light is on.”
According to Scholz, the three parties want to form a “coalition on an equal footing”. “We are united by the will to make the country better,” he said. The goal of the traffic light parties is not the lowest common denominator, but a “policy of great effect”.
Coal phase-out “ideally” by 2030
In the paper, the designated coalition partners committed themselves to gradually ending the fossil fuel age. To this end, the coal phase-out should “ideally” be brought forward to the year 2030 and the technology of the internal combustion engine phased out, as stated in the coalition agreement.
In the 177-page contract, the goal is set to get a total of 15 million e-cars on the German roads by 2030. In addition, the coalitionists in the European Union want to campaign for a minimum CO2 price. To this end, the traffic light parties want to create a super ministry for the economy and climate protection in the new federal government, which is to be led by the Greens.
Electricity customers should be relieved. On January 1, 2023, the financing of the billions in the EEG levy to promote green electricity through the electricity price is to be abolished. Due to the high energy prices, the CO2 tax on fuel, heating oil or gas should not be increased any further for the time being. In view of the current price level, they are sticking to the price path that has been decided for social reasons.
New building ministry for the SPD
The SPD, Greens and FDP also agreed on a new Federal Ministry for Building. The Ministry of the Interior hands over the construction department to the newly created ministry.
The rent brake is to be extended and tightened until 2029. In areas with a tight housing market, rents should only be allowed to rise by up to eleven percent within three years instead of the previous 15 percent. 400,000 new apartments are to be built every year. 100,000 of them are to be publicly funded.
The traffic light parties want to comply with the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law from 2023. In the coming year, new loans would have to be taken out again due to the ongoing consequences of the pandemic, according to the coalition agreement. The money should be used “in particular for overcoming the corona crisis and measures for a quick economic recovery”. From 2023, the debt will be limited to the scope specified in the debt brake.
“Controlled distribution” of cannabis planned
The three parties agreed to introduce a “controlled supply of cannabis to adults for consumption in licensed shops”. This would “control the quality, prevent the transfer of contaminated substances and ensure the protection of minors”.
The contribution rate to the pension insurance should not rise above 20 percent during this electoral period. “We will strengthen the statutory pension and secure the minimum pension level of 48 percent (definition before the recently carried out statistical revision),” says the coalition agreement. There will be no cuts in pensions and no increase in the statutory retirement age. The minimum wage is to be increased to twelve euros per hour. After the one-time adjustment, the independent minimum wage commission will decide on any further increases.
According to the paper, the voting age should be reduced to 16 years. In addition, the future coalition wants to abolish the so-called ban on advertising abortion and introduce a new nationality law.
Decisions should be made by mutual agreement
For the first traffic light coalition with three parties in the federal government, the SPD, Greens and FDP also set the rules for cabinet decisions in the coalition agreement. “In the cabinet, decisions are made by mutual agreement, no coalition partner is overruled,” the draft states.
A coalition committee is to meet monthly and coordinate the work: “The coalition partners meet monthly for coalition talks in the coalition committee to discuss fundamental and current political issues and to coordinate further work planning.”
Coalition agreement has yet to be approved
The coalition negotiations began on October 21, after the three traffic light parties had previously laid the foundation stone for them in explorations. They were led in a main negotiating group made up of seven high-ranking representatives from each party and in 22 working groups. In these, the politicians of the parties negotiated the details of the coalition agreement.
In the case of the SPD and FDP, the coalition agreement must be approved by party congresses and in the case of the Greens in a member survey. The previous Finance Minister Scholz will then be elected Chancellor in the Bundestag during St. Nicholas Week. After 16 years, this would end the era of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who did not run again in the federal elections on September 26th.
The Greens’ strike vote starts tomorrow
According to the party, the Greens members will be in a digital ballot from tomorrow on the coalition agreement negotiated with the SPD and FDP. According to the party, the 125,000 members will also decide on the Green personnel table, such as the appointment of ministerial posts – “for the first time in our party history,” as Federal Managing Director Michael Kellner said.
In the exploratory paper, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP had already made some “preliminary determinations” and cleared away some issues. In it they wrote “a comprehensive renewal of our country” and “a new departure” for Germany in order to cope with major challenges such as climate change, digitization, securing prosperity and social cohesion.