Friedrich Merz wants to defend Christmas from too harsh corona attacks.
In the interview, he also names his most important political concerns - and explains his relationship with Markus Söder.
Friedrich Merz
already
made a name for himself during the
Corona crisis
- in an interview with
Münchner Merkur
, he explains his course through the crisis and the pandemic Christmas.
The CDU presidency candidate also speaks about his collaboration with
CSU boss Markus Söder.
In the conversation, Merz also gives a foretaste of his plans as a possible CDU boss - the economic politician names his three currently most important concerns.
Münchner Merkur: Hello to Bavaria, Mr. Merz. With your athletic figure: Do you like skiing?
Friedrich Merz:
Yes.
Then you are unlucky as a Wahl-Tegernsee. Söder closes the mountain railways and the Austrians impose quarantine. Is it right to take outdoor sports away from people?
I am torn here and there.
On the one hand, you ask yourself: what can happen while skiing?
On the other hand, there are considerable risks at the lift and at après-ski.
Overall, the number of infections has decreased less than hoped, and we now have over 400 deaths in Germany with corona every day.
So: there is unfortunately no reason to give the all-clear.
Do you already know how to celebrate Christmas?
We celebrate every year with four generations in the family.
My parents are now so old that they can no longer travel, so we will visit them in Brilon and see the other parts of the family with a time delay due to Corona.
Friedrich Merz on the Christmas debate: “Police under the Christmas tree?
Our constitutional state does not provide for that "
We ask because you once said that it is none of the government's business how we celebrate Christmas. The Chancellor and Mr Söder see it a little differently.
I assume that large parts of the population stick to the rules and are just careful.
Christmas in particular is the most important festival for most families in Germany, and there should be a high degree of trust and common sense.
I was irritated by requests to speak from the SPD, which apparently takes it for granted that the police are allowed to count the number of people under the Christmas tree at any time.
Our constitutional state does not provide for that.
One hears from the Chancellery that a lockdown could be possible until March if the numbers don't go down quickly. Do we have the right corona strategy?
Counter question: In which democratic country in this world would we prefer to live at the moment than in Germany?
Despite all the criticism of the details, we can't think of so much.
Except for South Korea, perhaps, where they quickly got a grip on Corona - but at the cost of seamless, app-supported monitoring.
Even if it works, do we want this?
Do you want it?
The majority of the population in Germany classifies data protection as an extremely important good.
I can understand that well, even if I personally consider the protection of the health of our population to be at least as important a good.
The number of victims in old people's homes is increasing rapidly. Why are we still not able to protect these groups?
The death rate is increasing among older people overall.
We have no script, no textbook in the fight against the virus.
I cannot explain technically what should be done differently in detail.
But what we will certainly find out in retrospect: Germany should have prepared better for the second wave in the summer.
Does that also apply to schools?
When it came to schools, I said from the start: We have to reopen them as early as possible.
There is no money in the world that we can compensate for the loss of education and the social problems caused by school closings.
We probably all still underestimate this dimension.
Why has the state slept through digitization in schools?
I can only judge that up close for NRW.
Take a look at how well the judicial administration has been digitized there - almost all legal transactions between the court, public prosecutor and lawyer are now fully electronic, the electronic file is about to be introduced.
In contrast, some schools still do not have WiFi.
The judicial administration has regulated this centrally, but many hundreds of school authorities work decentrally and are obviously overwhelmed with this task.
Perhaps we can learn from the positive example of the judiciary that the federal states should digitize schools more centrally.
Friedrich Merz's relationship with Markus Söder: "Open and trusting"
How do you describe your relationship with Markus Söder? As CDU chairman you would have to work with him on a daily basis ...
We are already doing that, openly and trustingly.
We talk a lot about strategic issues and about the Union's staffing.
Great - let us be a part of it!
No (laughs), at least not today.
Söder always says his place is in Bavaria. Would you agree with that?
When the Prime Minister of the Free State says his place is in Bavaria, I have the greatest respect.
Our impression is: You would not be his preferred candidate because you are too much of a political alpha - like himself.
It's not part of our conversations.
We all agree: the Union must go to the polls with a visible team that covers the entire spectrum from economic and environmental policy, domestic policy, social and family policy to foreign and security policy with credible and authentic people .
I am therefore very pleased that we in the Bundestag have really good young MPs with political talents and a solid professional background.
Do you expect Jens Spahn to jump from the Laschet tandem - and do you then fear his candidacy?
Why should I fear them?
I hear the constant whispers and whispers in Berlin, but I assume that the tandem solution will remain, whatever that means later in practice.
My team is the entire elected federal executive.
The party convention is coming soon. Where is candidate Merz better - live or virtual?
Many friends tell me that I should attach importance to a presence party conference, to get in touch with the delegates.
Corona does not allow us to do that - nevertheless we urgently need to clarify the personnel issues.
We have been in this intermediate phase for ten months now, with five, maybe even six state elections due in 2021 - and the federal elections on September 26th.
So there is currently no alternative.
Everyone in the CDU is waiting to see whom you propose as General Secretary. Do you already know?
Yes.
I will give the name as soon as the party conference has been invited.
Friedrich Merz on the Greens: Difference "in the way, not in the goal"
Some in the Union warn that a candidate Merz would be a campaign gift to the Greens because you think so differently from Angela Merkel.
This causality does not reveal itself to me at all.
Of course there are differences between Angela Merkel and me, but above all there are big differences between the CDU and the Greens.
We have to work them out more.
For example, we do not share the green mantra that politicians have done nothing to protect the climate for 30 years, the world will end tomorrow, and that is why a system change is needed today.
As a Union, we respond to climate change with market-based instruments, with which we have already achieved a great deal in recent years, not with constant tutelage and further bans.
That distinguishes us from the Greens in the way, not in the goal.
We clearly have to get better at the instruments, but we want to maintain the social market economy and use it for environmental policy goals.
There would have been no nuclear phase-out in Fukushima with you, right?
Looking back, I have to say: Perhaps we should have left it with the Schröder government's long-term exit path.
Do you praise Schröder ?!
Nobody prevents us from becoming wiser from experience.
The introduction of a women's quota is also not at the top of their agenda ...
The better participation of women in management positions in business and politics is an extremely important issue.
Mixed teams simply work better, in politics as in business.
Here, too, we do not argue about the goal, but about the path.
Quota is a solution from above, and that is always the second-best way.
The solution from below would be better.
For parties this means: to get more young women excited about the work.
I can also see that in my two daughters: They were active in the Junge Union and scholarship holders of the Adenauer Foundation, but the CDU has completely lost sight of them.
That just can't happen.
And what about companies?
There is no question about the glass ceiling for women.
In any case, we need more women in technical professions in business, also in order to significantly increase the number of women on board members.
Which three issues would a Chancellor Merz tackle first?
Let's leave the chancellor out.
The first important question is: What issues do we have to tackle in the CDU?
Interview with Merz: Those would be his three most pressing concerns as CDU chief
And?
First: the ecological renewal of the social market economy in order to secure jobs, especially in industry, and at the same time to achieve climate neutrality.
Second: cohesion and social justice.
The most important issue is the old-age provision of today's young generation.
The grand coalition did not manage to agree on a reform of the statutory pension insurance.
There is still the illusion that pension insurance ensures the standard of living in old age.
It can no longer do that - we are already exceeding 100 billion euros in federal subsidies a year.
It can not go on like this.
Is that actually the fierce reform debate at the 2003 Leipzig Party Congress?
Above all, it is a problem that we urgently need to resolve in the near future.
We need a greater independence of the employment relationship from the old-age provision, there many countries in Europe are way ahead of us!
And, third point on the agenda: How do we meet the foreign and security policy challenges, especially with regard to the USA and Asia.
Specifically: What do we have to do to improve the relationship under Joe Biden? Spend more on armor?
The new president gives us the chance of a new strategic dialogue with the US.
Defense expenditure is based on a threat analysis within NATO that is as consensual as possible.
The two percent target has been agreed since 2014 and it must apply.
Even more important is the agreement formulated in 2014 that Germany will provide ten percent of NATO's military capabilities, and that is what we must achieve above all.
Do rusted tanks and flightless helicopters count too?
We are already doing a lot.
And also bring in good planes, vehicles and ships.
The crucial question is what threat scenarios we see for Europe in the long term.
There are territorial threats, but they tend to be on the edge of the alliance's territory.
The greater threat to us all comes with the increasing number of attacks on our data networks and our digital infrastructure.
These are new forms of threats to our security and freedom that we must take extremely seriously.
Then we certainly cannot leave the expansion of the 5G mobile phone network to the Chinese and Huawei ...
Nor will it happen in an uncontrolled manner.
But it is also true that at the moment we are technically not in a position to completely build these networks with European components.
We made a few mistakes years ago when the Federal Republic of Germany issued the licenses for 5G.
At that time, area coverage and security played a far too small role, it was only about getting as much money as possible for the tax budget.
Unfortunately, the old Strauss picture applies: If you button the coat incorrectly at the bottom, you can no longer correct it at the top.
Doesn't Berlin have to find a different language compared to China, perhaps also position itself more clearly on the side of the USA?
Brussels - not Berlin.
We need a China strategy in the EU.
China has long had a European strategy.
For example, the Silk Road Initiative, which in fact represents an imperial political and economic project, has so far been confronted with no common European response.
Meanwhile, China is buying into critical infrastructure around the world and is thus gaining economic and political influence far beyond its own national territory.
There has to be an answer to this, a European one in any case, preferably closely coordinated with the USA.
Interview: Georg Anastasiadis, Mike Schier, Christian Deutschländer
