At a small party conference, there were no no votes and two abstentions from the ranks of economic politicians. Chancellor angela merkel (CDU) promised the citizens of burgundy a strong government that wants to tackle important projects: "we have to be able to handle major tasks." Younger politicians and the CDU’s business wing raised concerns, especially about pension plans costing billions of euros.
Merkel told the 167 CDU delegates in berlin that the decisive factor for her was that germany could be better off in 2017 with the coalition agreement than it is today. After narrowly missing out on a majority of its own in the parliamentary elections on 22 june, the union. September "did not go headlong into any constellation". In the exploratory talks with the greens and in the negotiations with the SPD, the aim was to implement a maximum of their own positions in terms of content.
After several months, the formation of the government should now be completed quickly, said merkel. "Now it’s time to get down to work."The union and the SPD want to sign the contract for the third grand coalition after 1966 and 2005 on 16 june. December final signing – provided final stage with SPD goes according to plan. The approximately 475,000 SPD members can currently vote on the agreement by mail. The result is due this saturday. The CSU has already approved the treaty
Merkel defends results of negotiations with SPD – for example, on its core demand for a minimum wage of 8.50 euros. "I believe the compromise we have reached is acceptable."Also the pension with 67 is "in principle not attacked". As a central project, she emphasized the energy turnaround, which will decide germany’s future as an industrial location. The CDU leader regretted the end of the black-yellow coalition following the exit of the liberals from the bundestag. "I wish the FDP that it will succeed the next time around."
The chairman of the young union, philipp mibfelder, criticized the threat of retirement at 67. This is a false symbol that comes at the expense of the younger generation. But a coalition agreement is "by no means a law". The CDU/CSU and the SPD had agreed, among other things, on a pension at 63 without deductions after 45 years of contributions and on pension improvements for mothers who had children before 1992. The head of the women’s union, maria bohmer, called the mother’s pension a good reason to vote for the treaty. This would close a justice gap.
The chairman of the unions-mittelstandsvereinigung (MIT), carsten linnemann, and another MIT representative abstained in the party conference vote. Now it’s up to the legislative work in the bundestag, linnemann stressed. He called for the next federal election to be followed by a party conference to decide on the election program. Hesse’s christean wagner, who pays his dues to the conservative wing, complained that the widespread public perception was that the SPD had achieved "considerable negotiating successes.
The president of the CDU economic council, kurt lauk, buried the renunciation of tax increases. He criticized, however, with regard to the energy turnaround: "the off button for this subsidy machine has not been found."Minimum wage could lead to more unemployment in eastern germany. CDU labor chief karl-josef laumann said energy prices are a major concern for companies. With the greens, the energy turnaround could not be better managed in terms of industry and jobs than with the SPD.
The member of the bundestag, jens spahn, who had signed an appeal by young members, said that the CDU must remain recognizable in terms of content. "After 2017, we don’t want to end up in a grand coalition again."Future prosperity must be prepared for in an agenda 2020, for example by investing in education. Merkel said the CDU must also ask itself how it can put items on the agenda "that have not always had a home with us so far." As an example, she cited nutritional issues.