Despite all the unrest in the face of personnel disputes in the CDU, the party leadership in Leipzig wanted to hold an "intensive Labor Party Day". After unmediated confidence by party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the ranks have closed and the delegates voted indeed on numerous applications. Important decisions at a glance:
WOMEN'S QUOTE: The CDU has postponed the decision on a binding women's quota for posts and mandates until next year. Within the party, the issue is controversial: A request by the women's union had no chance at the party congress on a majority. Now a commission is to elaborate "binding rules" up to the party conference 2020, how the position of women in the party can be strengthened. The quota supporters can rely on Kramp-Karrenbauers support: "I stand for that, I fight for it, but everyone has to deal with me," she said.
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Friedrich Merz, advocate of private pensions
PRIVATE AGE-LOSS : The CDU wants to strengthen private retirement provision and, if necessary, make it a long-term duty. If the number of contracts does not increase by 30 percent within three years, the product portfolio should be expanded to include a "state-organized standard provision product". At the same time, it should be checked whether this product then becomes mandatory for everyone.
MINIJOBS : The CDU is committed to raising the mini job limit to 550 euros. In the future, it will be reviewed in a five-year cycle whether the income threshold needs to be adjusted. Currently, the mini job limit is 450 euros. Around 8 million people in Germany work as marginal employees.
"Minimum wage has increased by a measly 69 cents"
MINIMUM WAGE : The minimum wage commission should give itself to the order of the CDU new rules of procedure. It should move away from the previous practice of a quasi-automatic increase based on the minimum wage. The workers' wing CDA had criticized that the minimum wage has risen since the introduction of 2015 "a meager 69 cents".
GRUNDRENTE : After the discussions of the past few days, the CDU underscored to stick to the basic pension compromise with the SPD.
FINANCE: The Christian Democrats reaffirm their commitment to the debt brake and the "black zero". In order to strengthen the competitiveness of Germany as a business location, companies should be relieved of their tax burden and bureaucracy reduced, as stated in the lead proposal "Sustainability, Growth, Prosperity - The Social Market Economy of Tomorrow". Thus, the tax burden of companies should be limited to a maximum of 25 percent. Low and middle incomes should also be tax-exempt, among other things by the complete dismantling of the soli and the reduction of the unemployment contribution from 2.5 to two per cent. Sustainability should be declared a state goal.
PLANNING LAW : The CDU wants to reform the planning law for construction projects so that planning can be implemented faster and more easily. For nationally significant construction projects, the CDU wants to introduce a parliamentary approval right. In addition, the party plans to limit the right of action of associations and shorten the way in court.
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CDU young politician Philipp Amthor (l.), Tilman Kuban (r.)
URWAHL : The CDU has rejected a ballot vote over its chancellor candidate. Traditionally, at the CDU, the chairperson has first access to the chancellor's candidature. Above all, the Junge Union (JU) had made strong for a primary election, which had been understood as an affront to party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. However, the CDU was open to take on important personalities at regional conferences, as they had given last year in the candidate race for the party presidency.
HUAWEI : A participation of the controversial Chinese group Huawei in the expansion of the fast 5G mobile radio will not ban the CDU. However, a corresponding resolution calls for a "clearly defined security catalog" which excludes the influence of a foreign state on German 5G infrastructure. In the Union faction, there had been serious concerns about including Huawei in the 5G expansion. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had replied that no state or company could be barred altogether.
"American platforms appear like a capitalist monster"
Digitization : The CDU wants to relax the strict data protection in some places - for example, where small businesses are "exaggerated" by the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) burden. Even in the digital world, the focus is on the individual, his dignity and his freedom. "American platforms seem like a capitalist monster," says delegate Jörg Müller-Lietzkow, "they need a different logic that does not fit our values". The authors of the paper are therefore more about distributed systems that are highly efficient in computer science know. "We have to use digital potential throughout the country," says Müller-Lietzkow, only then can it work. The digital infrastructure is to be understood as "general interest", it is said in the adopted lead proposal "Digital Charter Innovation Platform: D". In certain regions, therefore, the state would have to work with market participants to provide mobile and broadband. The CDU also turns "with determination" against hatred and hate speech on the Internet.
HEADBAND BAN : The CDU considers a headscarf ban as a "last resort " for kindergartens and elementary schools. First and foremost, however, the party relies on the conviction of the parents. "If little girls are already wearing headscarf in kindergarten and elementary school, then this has nothing to do with religion", but makes children recognizably outsiders, it is said. Basically, the CDU stands for freedom of belief.
EQUIVALENT LIVING CONDITIONS : The CDU is committed to the goal of equal living conditions in East and West. Even 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall there was still a lot to do on this point, said Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Rainer Haseloff.
