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Armin Laschet (CDU) is aggressive
Photo: JENS SCHLUETER / AFP
The Union's candidate for chancellor, Armin Laschet, does not believe in the Greens' latest ideas in the fight against climate change.
He accused them of "petty looking at prohibitions".
The CDU is fighting for the "big project of climate-neutral Germany," said the CDU federal chairman and NRW prime minister on Saturday at a state representative meeting of the CDU NRW in Düsseldorf.
The discussion as to whether “fuel prices should be one way or another” or whether domestic German air traffic should be restricted is fragmented.
Incentives for investments in climate-neutral production should be set.
The CDU does not want to make politics with "prohibition, renunciation and loss", but with "innovation, impulses and ideas".
This also includes competitive corporate taxation.
One should also not believe that politics can regulate every detail of the economy with regulations, said Laschet.
The Chancellor candidate of the Greens, Annalena Baerbock, had spoken out in an interview with the "Bild" newspaper in favor of higher fuel prices.
According to the Greens' plans, this should increase further in the coming years - as is already planned.
The gasoline price must be increased gradually by 16 cents, said Baerbock.
Laschet for faster approval procedures
Nevertheless, Laschet also spoke out in favor of alternatives to avoid short-haul flights within Germany.
"We want you to be able to drive quickly from Düsseldorf to Berlin," explained Laschet.
In France, for example, the TGV express train ensures that flights are no longer worthwhile.
If, however, new railway lines were built in Germany, the Greens founded local citizens' initiatives against an expansion.
Germany must, however, become faster in planning and approval procedures, said Laschet.
So far, the balance sheet for Laschet's climate policy has been negative.
For a long time, he defended coal against climate protection plans.
It was only in 2018 that Laschet was open to an end to coal-fired power generation in the 2030s.
Laschet joins the party
Meanwhile, Laschet called for unity within the party at the state representatives' meeting and reiterated his goal for the federal elections: "I want to be the next Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany," he said.
"I will only be able to do this if we show unity." The political competitor must know who he is dealing with.
He will fight with all his might to ensure that Germany is well managed even after Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"I want to be the next Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany"
In the polls for the federal elections, things recently went downhill for the Greens.
If the general election were on Sunday, the Greens would have 22 percent.
They are clearly behind the Union, currently the strongest force with 29 percent.
The North Rhine-Westphalian CDU wants to elect Laschet to number one in its state list for the federal election on Saturday.
For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, around 250 representatives of the largest CDU regional association have come together for a face-to-face meeting.
kah / dpa / reuters