250 delegates will be on their computers late Friday afternoon when a CSU chief delivers a party speech without an audience for the first time. The focus is on one topic: Lessons from the Corona Crisis.
Munich (dpa) - The high risk of contagion of the corona virus forces the CSU to a real premiere: With its first Internet party conference, it is opening a new chapter in its history today.
The broadcast starts at 5:00 p.m. from the Munich party headquarters - the keynote speaker is CSU boss Markus Söder, added from his study. 250 delegates will also be there. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is expected as a guest, but CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is not among them.
In terms of content, the focus is on the corona crisis, its effects and measures to boost the economy and the economy. The seven-page motion by the party executive, entitled "Make Germany strong - learn from Corona and grow", which is available to the German press agency in Munich, not only calls for tax cuts for companies and citizens. However, the application leaves open how much money the ten required packages of measures should cost or how it can be financed.
Covid-19 will long put the health system, welfare state, economic order and "our way of life" to the test. "We have to be ready to live with the virus, but we don't let our lives dictate it."
As a relief program for Germany, the CSU is calling for a reduction in corporate tax, improved depreciation options for investments and expanded loss offsetting options. The party clearly rejects tax increases. The CSU is also committed to maintaining and creating new jobs. "In addition, we want to raise the earnings limit in the mini-job area to EUR 600 per month and to link it permanently to wage developments," it continues.
From the CSU's point of view, German labor law is also in need of reform - it must be adapted to the new world of work and more flexible working hours and locations. In addition, Germany needs "a moratorium over several years," which keeps social security contributions below 40 percent and reduces energy costs - for example by capping the EEG surcharge and its own industrial electricity price.
With the CDU and SPD, the CSU also wants to renegotiate the abolition of the solidarity surcharge - unlike in earlier statements by party leader Markus Söder, the proposal does not state either complete or rapid abolition as a clear goal. In order to increase the domestic inquiry, the application recommends more purchase incentives for all citizens - for example in the form of travel vouchers for overnight stays in Germany. The auto industry must also receive targeted help with purchase premiums for environmentally friendly vehicles.
For the "next economic miracle", a high-tech agenda had to be initiated at the federal level in the field of future technologies - that is, robotics and artificial intelligence. Despite the crisis, climate protection should not be neglected.
The state also had to invest more money in "new roads and rails, modern schools and universities, energy-efficient buildings and ultra-fast Internet and mobile radio connections". By 2025, the 5G mobile network should be available everywhere. The federal government's mobile communications infrastructure company is to receive five billion euros for this, and approval procedures will be shortened.
Beyond that, digitization must also be advanced. "With the additional funds from the digital fund, every school should receive basic digital equipment," it says. In addition, a digital dual training offensive and a digital TÜV are required to cut red tape.
According to the CSU, Germany also needs an upper limit for government debt in times of crisis. "Debt must remain the exception," it says. However, it remains open where the limit should be.
In order to be better prepared for crises in the future, the CSU is calling for an emergency reserve of intensive care beds, essential medicines and infection protection materials. Nursing staff should be paid better, food, medical and pharmaceutical products should be increasingly produced in Germany again. "If necessary, pharmaceutical companies must also be obliged to produce at least one variant of important products in Europe."