According to Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU), politicians must give top priority to economic growth in Germany. “We need an economic policy change. Growth must have priority. Everything else must take a back seat,” said Spahn of the “Bild am Sonntag”.
Specifically, this means: “The electricity tax must go down immediately, investments need faster depreciation.” Only with growth can the Federal Republic, as an aging country, secure prosperity and finance pensions and care. “In addition, we finally have to seriously reduce bureaucracy.”
The big problem for every employee is a high burden of taxes and duties. “Contributions to health and long-term care insurance are increasing, pensions are becoming more and more expensive, and unemployment is increasing,” said Spahn. “Meanwhile, for a salary of 3,000 euros, more than 1,200 euros have to be paid in social security contributions, more than 40 percent. Where’s the outcry?” Spahn called for a “load brake” at 40 percent social security contributions. “The traffic light parties should decide on this brake together with the Union and – like the debt brake – anchor it in the Basic Law.”
When asked where the money for lower taxes and levies should come from, Spahn said: “In the current situation, tax and levy cuts also indirectly lead to more income. Every percent more economic growth brings tens of billions of euros more in tax revenue.” In Spahn’s opinion, the German and French governments should implement a bureaucracy freeze in the European Union: “Not a single additional rule from Brussels for the next three years”.
“We still lack esprit de corps”
Spahn demands more cohesion from his party. “We still lack esprit de corps. If we want to win in 2025, we all have to burn for it and stand up for each other,” he said with a view to the federal election in two years. “I deleted the Twitter app from my phone. It would be a good idea if everyone did that for a few months,” said Spahn. “Anyone who doesn’t like something about the statement of a party friend should simply call them.” The Twitter platform is now called X.
The Union is currently at 26 to 27 percent in the nationwide polls. However, only 25 percent of those questioned in a Yougov survey commissioned by the German Press Agency described CDU leader Friedrich Merz as suitable for a chancellor candidacy – 56 percent consider him unsuitable. 36 percent of those surveyed called the Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Söder suitable for the chancellor’s office – 48 percent consider him unsuitable.
Merz recently stated that he and CSU leader Söder had agreed that a joint proposal for the chancellor candidacy would be made in late summer 2024. Spahn told the “Bild am Sonntag” when asked whether Merz would become a candidate for chancellor: “When it comes to the candidacy for chancellor, there is no way around a CDU leader.”
