During the Corona crisis, Armin Laschet always had to experience how opponent Markus Söder sits on the summit podiums.
Now he takes on the decisive office - late and briefly.
Berlin - timing can be anything in politics: When the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK) 2020/21 in the form of the “Corona Summit” was of the utmost importance, Markus Söder was always in the front row.
The pandemic policy is now regulated in other ways.
Only now does the failed CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet take over the post as chairman of the group.
The double joke: Laschet will give up the office again immediately.
He takes over in his function as head of government of North Rhine-Westphalia.
He will have to hand it in next week when he takes office as a member of the Bundestag in Berlin.
He will chair exactly one meeting of the MPK.
He then wants to deal with the corona policy of all things.
Specifically: With lessons from the sometimes sharply criticized turmoil of the German reaction to the pandemic.
Laschet experiences a curious brief appearance at the top of the MPK - CDU boss wants to learn Corona lessons
Laschet wants to propose a resolution on lessons from the pandemic.
A six-page draft apparently states, among other things, that Germany must become more independent of the world market by promoting domestic production - a requirement that was already reflected in the Union's election manifesto.
The
editorial network Germany
reported on the paper
on Thursday.
+
At the last Corona summits, Markus Söder (left) and Michael Müller took the places next to Angela Merkel on the podium.
© Michael Kappeler / dpa
According to the report, Laschet demanded in the paper that the principle of open borders in Europe must be preserved even in times of crisis.
Border closings should be avoided as an instrument of crisis management.
In addition, there is a need for reliable regulations on intra-European border crossings, for example for commuters or service providers in the area of critical infrastructure.
Laschet also wants to "analyze" the application portals for disbursing aid in the event of a disaster.
Laschet meets Prime Minister colleagues - his successor Wüst will soon jump to the top of the squad
The CDU boss and his (still) official colleagues from the other federal states also want to deal with issues outside of Corona: Laschet also spoke out in the paper for flexible work design and improving the compatibility of work and family. Home office and mobile working not only offer potential for rural areas, but also protect the climate, according to the report in the proposed resolution.
The prime ministers of the federal states met on Thursday for their two-day annual conference on Petersberg near Bonn.
The opening event of the new chairmanship also served as the ceremonial handover of the baton to the new chairmanship state North Rhine-Westphalia, which took over the annual chairmanship from the state of Berlin on October 1st.
Following the Corona summit, the Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) sat next to his predecessor Söder and Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on the podium.
It is still formally unclear who will chair the Prime Minister's Conference after Laschet.
Internally, the NRW-CDU has already arranged the successor in the Düsseldorf State Chancellery: Hendrik Wüst, the previous Minister of Transport, is to take over.
(
AFP / fn
)