Of the 299 Bundestag constituencies, the one with the number 226 is of course the prettiest. At least that’s what Alexander Dobrindt thinks, because first of all it’s his constituency, and secondly the Zugspitze is there. After the head of the CSU state group managed to lure the leaders of the Union faction to the retreat on the Zugspitze last year, the faction decided this time for the Schmallenberg conference venue. It is in the Hochsauerland district and, as you might have guessed, in the constituency of the parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz. Strict rules of proportional representation between the executives of the CDU and CSU also apply to home marketing. Dobrindt also seems to like it at home near Merz, “even if the mountains are a bit smaller here,” as he emphasized on Thursday at the start of the exam.
Presumably, Dobrindt would have liked to rave about the “very special nature experience” of the Sauerland for a little longer. However, the good mood was disturbed by the Aiwanger affair in the country of the CSU. “It’s a very ugly situation,” said Dobrindt in his opening statement. In any case, Hubert Aiwanger’s previous statements on the anti-Semitic leaflet were “simply not sufficient,” Dobrindt said in Schmallenberg – but that was before Aiwanger made his statement in Munich on Thursday.
Work must be more worthwhile again, according to the “Sauerland Declaration”.
Aiwanger’s comments on Wednesday made things even worse from the point of view of the CSU regional group leader. On Wednesday he had said that he had been “since adulthood, the last few decades – not an anti-Semite, not an extremist, but a philanthropist”. That made interpretations possible, which irritated him greatly, said Dobrindt.
Friedrich Merz, who is usually very talkative, was “somewhat speechless” in the face of the leaflet. However, Merz left no doubt that he also finds the situation extremely unpleasant: “I find it extremely disturbing, stressful and also aggravating for the entire political culture in this country,” he said.
Actually, Schmallenberg was not supposed to be about what was happening in Bavaria, but about the situation in Germany. The top of the Union faction worries about the prosperity in the Federal Republic. She passed a “Sauerland Declaration”. This is entitled “Take action: create growth, secure prosperity”. The Union calls for a “pact for performance”. The statement said that work had to be made more profitable again. Germany needs a stress brake: “Social security contributions must be capped at 40 percent”, overtime and working after retirement age should be tax-free. The total tax burden on companies must be capped at 25 percent and housing construction must be promoted more. The federal government’s “therapy session” in Schloss Meseberg was “opposed by Schmallenberg’s energy,” said Dobrindt.
It is disputed in the traffic light coalition whether the high electricity costs of German companies should be reduced by a state subsidy. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is in favor, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) is against it – and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), in contrast to his parliamentary group, is cautious. But the topic also leads to debates in the Union.
The parliamentary group advocates a reduction in electricity tax and network charges
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has spoken out in favor of a state-subsidized industrial electricity price, while the top of the Union faction is opting for a reduction in the electricity tax.
Merz tried in Schmallenberg to downplay this internal party conflict. The CDU leader initially complained about “the artificial shortage of electricity due to the arbitrary shutdown of the nuclear power plants”. That was “a serious political mistake” by the traffic light coalition. The Union faction is now pleading for a reduction in electricity tax and network charges. “And then we will also talk, if it should be necessary”, about a subsidized “bridging electricity price”. One could imagine that – “but the most important thing is that the state burdens that are already on the electricity today are reduced before additional subsidies are paid”.
Incidentally, Merz also finds his own constituency particularly beautiful. With his very own kind of enthusiasm, he said: “It’s an industrial region in the countryside.”