The CDU is looking for its way

At the beginning of September, 1001 delegates will meet for the first time in three years for a regular party conference. There they should already give themselves a new set of values. A commission presented it in May.

The preamble to the fourth basic program is entitled: “Charter of Fundamental Values”. It’s about freedom, solidarity and subsidiarity. The CDU will “always start from the individual, not from the collective,” Linnemann stated. “These basic values ​​must also guide us in day-to-day politics, which takes place primarily in the parliamentary group.” Ten working groups are to develop the draft for the basic program by the end of 2023. An election program should then be created from this.

Germany should act “on an equal footing” in China

But Linnemann knows: In view of the crises, the CDU must quickly become specific and cannot just concentrate on showing long lines. The task now is to define Germany’s role in the world.

There are ideas: “In the future we have to act on an equal footing,” demanded Linnemann. This applies, for example, when dealing with China, where foreign companies have to involve the state before they are allowed to invest. “If China wants to buy companies from us or invest in infrastructure, then the reverse must also apply to European companies in China. In my opinion, such equal treatment principles also belong in the basic program of our party.”

The world is experiencing a race between systems and values. In order to win this competition, a strong “core Europe” is important, as well as “free trade with countries from Great Britain to Ukraine, Turkey and Israel. And then there needs to be a market of freedom across America to Australia and Japan with all those who share our values.”

In the current debate about the energy crisis, CDU Vice President Michael Kretschmer recently declared the Merkel government’s energy transition and the associated phase-out of nuclear energy to have failed.

>> Read here: Why China’s reputation as a location for innovation is suffering massively

According to Linnemann, there was no concept to be able to guarantee electricity production independently even without nuclear power in Germany. It was also fatal that the research was also ended. “One thing is certain for us: Our basic program will only be able to provide the penultimate answers because we are not omniscient. That’s why: We don’t exclude any technologies as a matter of principle, especially not in research.”

For him, longer operating times for the three remaining nuclear power plants are part of the energy mix. “The situation dictates that the piles run longer. Instead of creating clarity, the traffic light coalition contradicts itself every day. Herr Habeck likes to explain things close to the people. But his problem is that he doesn’t decide. It’s time to decide.” Energy supply must be thought of in European terms.

Linnemann was chairman of the Mittelstandsunion until his new role. He and Merz belong to the economic wing, which causes distrust among social politicians. You feel unheard.

Character as a people’s party

“We should stop with the old wing thinking and think and act as a union,” said Linnemann, on the other hand, and gave an example. “As we get older, I think it’s clear that working lives need to be increased for those who can work longer.” with full force”.

At the same time, however, Linnemann, like party leader Merz, rejects the planned citizens’ allowance with which the traffic light coalition wants to replace the Hartz IV system. “The coalition, with the participation of the FDP, is currently burying Gerhard Schröder’s Agenda 2010. In future, the only rule will be: support, no longer: demand,” he criticized. “A social system without sanctions is like a soccer game without yellow and red cards. That can’t work. We also have a responsibility to the taxpayers, whose taxes make our social system possible in the first place.”

Solidarity exists for everyone with basic security. In addition, in the spirit of subsidiarity, everyone is initially responsible for themselves. “But we should generalize benefits more and improve opportunities for additional income so that people can get back on their feet faster.”

>> Read here: The CDU says goodbye to Merkel’s China course

The party is still debating the draft of the six-page fundamental values ​​paper internally. On the one hand, there is the question of whether the party describes itself as “bourgeois”. It is said that some wish to become a bourgeois conservative and economically liberal party. Critics say that the character of a people’s party will then be lost, as well as the C in the name.

Merz threatens to lose the vote on the women’s quota

Secondly, there is the concept of equality. The Commission had dispensed with that because it was now considered “identitarian” and no longer meant creating equal opportunities, but equal results. The federal board insists on the term.

Another debate ignited at the same time: the one about the quota for women. The Junge Union and also the Mittelstandsunion – supported by now almost 1000 signatures from the party – submit a motion against the quota. There should also be a secret vote so that each delegate can decide freely.

It would be a defeat for Friedrich Merz, of all things, on the first day of the party congress. The party leader wants the issue off the table. The present proposal to soon establish parity in all committees dates back to 2020 and was already the subject of heated debate at the time. The party could not decide on it: a face-to-face party conference is required, which has so far been canceled repeatedly due to Corona.

“Friedrich Merz will surprise everyone,” said Linnemann with conviction. “He’s going to give a very, very good speech on the big issues of the time. The speech will define the first day, be sure.”

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