“Germany needs a break from this completely uncontrolled asylum migration”
Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn is also in favor of lower taxes and duties
Source: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Jens Spahn (CDU) has called for an “economic policy turnaround” for Germany. In an interview, the Union faction vice spoke in favor of a change of course in migration policy.
NAccording to Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU), politicians must give top priority to economic growth in Germany. “We need an economic policy change. Growth must have priority. Everything else has to take a back seat,” said Spahn.picture on sunday“. Specifically, this means: “The electricity tax must be reduced immediately, investments need faster depreciation.” Only with growth can the Federal Republic as an aging country secure prosperity and finance pensions and care. “In addition, we finally have to seriously reduce bureaucracy.”
The big problem for every employee is a high burden of taxes and duties. “Contributions to health and long-term care insurance are increasing, pensions are becoming more and more expensive, and unemployment is increasing,” said Spahn. “Meanwhile, more than 1,200 euros in social security contributions are payable for a salary of 3,000 euros, more than 40 percent. Where’s the outcry?” Spahn called for a “load brake” at 40 percent social security contributions. “The traffic light parties should decide on this brake together with the Union and – like the debt brake – anchor it in the Basic Law.”
“Experience shows that we cannot significantly reduce the numbers through deportations”
When asked where the money for lower taxes and duties should come from, Spahn said: “In the current situation, tax and duty cuts also indirectly lead to more income. Every percent more economic growth brings tens of billions of euros more in tax revenue.” In Spahn’s view, the German and French governments should implement a bureaucracy freeze in the European Union: “Not a single additional rule from Brussels for the next three years”.
Spahns also advocated a change of course in migration policy. “Germany needs a break from this completely uncontrolled asylum migration,” he said. “Experience shows that we cannot significantly reduce the numbers through deportations. That’s why a clear signal is needed at the EU’s external border: no one can go any further on this path.”
The integration of people traumatized by war or violence into society and the labor market takes time and a lot of resources. “This can only work well if the number of additional asylum seekers decreases significantly.” If border protection works, Europe could “certainly accept and distribute 300,000 to 500,000 refugees a year via quotas.”
Spahn on the CDU: “We still lack esprit de corps”
Spahn also called for more cohesion from his party. “We still lack esprit de corps. If we want to win in 2025, we all have to burn for it and stand up for each other,” he told BaMS. “I deleted the Twitter app from my phone. It would be a good idea if everyone did that for a few months,” said Spahn. “Anyone who doesn’t like something about a party friend’s statement should simply call them.” The Twitter platform is now called X.
The Union is currently at 26 to 27 percent in nationwide polls. However, only 25 percent of those surveyed in a Yougov survey commissioned by the German Press Agency described CDU leader Friedrich Merz as suitable for a chancellor candidacy – 56 percent consider him unsuitable. 36 percent of those surveyed said the Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Söder was suitable for the chancellor’s office – 48 percent considered him unsuitable.
Merz recently stated that he and CSU leader Söder had agreed that a joint proposal for the chancellor candidacy would be made in late summer 2024. Spahn told the “Bild am Sonntag” when asked whether Merz would become a candidate for chancellor: “When it comes to the candidacy for chancellor, there is no way around a CDU leader.”