FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai has called for a “fitness cure for Germany”. A growth and innovation program is necessary, he said on Saturday at the FDP federal party conference in Berlin. “Our country now needs an agenda of change.” A stable financial policy is the foundation for prosperity and growth. Fiscal policy must also be sustainable, said Djir-Sarai, who had been confirmed as Secretary General the day before.
The FDP politician clearly set himself apart from the Greens without naming them directly. “Prosperity is not a law of nature in Germany either. Prosperity has to be earned and worked for,” he said. “The philosophizing about zero growth and renunciation of prosperity may fascinate left-green circles of chairs, but for us it is definitely not a model for the future.”
The FDP general secretary described climate protection as a “central international task for mankind”: it is of course also extremely important for the FDP. “But we want a climate protection policy that takes people with it instead of patronizing them. We want a climate protection policy that relies on openness to technology instead of the dead end of the prohibition culture.”
Coming years the “years of shaping”
The coming years should not be years of crises, Djir-Sarai warned. “They must be years of creation, progress and departure.” Only growth, innovation and openness to technology ensured that the challenges ahead of Germany could be mastered.
On Saturday, the delegates discussed the leading motion of the FDP federal executive board. It was headed “Yes to more prosperity – let’s use the energy of overcoming the crisis for an ambitious innovation and growth program”. The motion contained many well-known demands and positions of the Free Democrats.
The demands were to make Germany the world market leader for innovation and technological progress again, to create growth-friendly framework conditions and to fill the promise of advancement for all people with new life. Solid finances are needed, more digitization and less bureaucracy, a modern transport and energy infrastructure, a fair opportunity for wealth accumulation, above all through shares, and the best educational opportunities for all children.
One amendment called for “major changes” to the Building Energy Act, which had just been passed by the cabinet with the approval of the FDP ministers. It was said that the regulations interfered too much with people’s self-determined lives. There should be “no expropriation of owners and tenants through the back door” due to climate protection regulations.
