The CDU / CSU parliamentary group has shrunk from 245 to 196 seats. Many specialist politicians are no longer there in the new Bundestag. The Union’s digital experts were hit particularly hard.
The parliamentary group’s “Digital Agenda” working group has suddenly become leaderless. The chairman Tankred Schipanski (Thuringia) missed the re-entry into parliament as did his vice Maik Beermann (Lower Saxony).
The loss of Nadine Schön should weigh even more heavily. The Saarland woman, who had been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, lost her constituency to the SPD and, because of the poor CDU result, did not make it into parliament via the state list.
As deputy leader of the Union parliamentary group, Schön was responsible for digital issues. She is co-head of the CDU’s digitization network and one of the heads behind “Neustaat”, a well-received book about the fundamental modernization and comprehensive digitization of the state and its administration.
Initiative D21 sees “digital brain drain”
The issue also played a central role in the Union’s election campaign. CDU boss Armin Laschet, for example, had campaigned for “some of the ideas from the book” to flow into the Union’s election manifesto.
And he had repeatedly assured that, as Chancellor, the digitization of public administration would be “finally pacing”. Laschet also reiterated his plan to set up a digital ministry in the event of a chancellorship.
In this context, the name of Schön was also mentioned. When asked who should head the digital department targeted by the CDU and CDU, Laschet named the Saarland woman. But also Schipanski.
The CDU politician was a member of the Bundestag for twelve years as a directly elected member of the Bundestag. “Against the national trend, it was unfortunately not possible to defend the direct mandate,” Schipanski wrote on Twitter. The voters in his state would have voted for the AfD by a majority. Even in his constituency.
In the digital scene, the personnel losses were sometimes received with great regret. She was “shocked to find” that Schön and Schipanski were no longer represented in the Bundestag. “The CDU is thus losing important digital competence,” wrote the head of the “Digitized Society” department at Stiftung Mercator, Carla Hustedt, on Twitter.
The Vice President of the non-profit initiative D21, a digital network from companies and politics, Thomas Langkabel, spoke of a “digital brain drain”. “But I have the hope that there are some newly elected people who can help out here,” wrote Langkabel on Twitter.
Bitkom calls for “basic consensus for a strong digital ministry”
The President of the Bitkom IT association, Achim Berg, sees the situation as less dramatic because almost all parliamentary groups in the Bundestag have “built up digital expertise across the board” over the past few years.
For the Union, for example, Dorothee Bär and Hansjörg Durz (both CSU) and CDU politicians Helge Braun, Thomas Heilmann, Thomas Jarzombek and Ronja Kemmer represent six proven digital experts in the new Bundestag. “The Union will rely on its know-how in digital issues in the new legislature,” said Berg.
The Federal Association of the Digital Economy (BVDW) warned that the digital issue should generally be given greater priority in the future. “For too long, digital politics has been a hobbyhorse of a few in all parties that campaigned for it,” said BVDW managing director Marco Junk. “Therefore, it shouldn’t depend on this or that person, but digital policy must finally become a top priority for all parties.”
Bitkom President Berg sees it similarly. “Without exception, all parties are called upon to build digital experts, listen to them and give them the necessary weight that this important topic deserves.”
At the same time, with a view to the various coalition options, he advocated developing the guidelines for the digital policy of the future federal government independently of party colors and personalities. Goals and structures are more important.
“In all upcoming talks, a basic consensus for a strong digital ministry should be sought,” said Berg. This department must be equipped with all the competencies and resources to advance and coordinate digital policy in the federal government.
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