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"Party platform of the Liberals and possible cooperation with the Greens"

date: 2021-06-22 19:30:00 +0200 category: [germany] image: https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/die-drei-moeglichen-ampel-macher-fdp-chef-christian-lindner-links-mit-den-kandidaten-der-gruenen-un-c1276a664c5f4b9bbe5b793b77fae290-76818734/8,w=1986,q=low,c=0.bild.jpg[1] tags: Greens FDP Bundestagswahl Superwahljahr 2021 Lindner Baerbock Laschet Jamaica Traffic Light Ampel

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Germany's liberals, the FDP came public with their party platform[3] for the 2021 elections back in mid-May - to those who pay some attention to German politics, this contained[4] no very large surprises. The document bears the title that literally translates to "Never has there been more to do", and foreshadows the FDP's newfound enthusiasm to be part of the next government.

The FDP's approach to the climate issue can be summed up as "less prohibition, more innovation", seeking to boost technological improvements and deploy market strategies such as carbon emission dealing. They too, want to cap legal CO2 emissions by law. However, the FDP rejects[5] the idea of regulating exactly how the CO2 emission goals should be achieved. This means no speed limits on German roads, traffic bans in inner cities or a ban on combustion engine vehicles. Instead, solutions should be delivered by the ingenuity of engineers and scientists of the land. Interestingly, the FDP also seems to have realized that climate politics is not possible without addressing social implications. The party is proposing[6] a "climate dividend", whereby a portion of the government's income through CO2 price would be directly paid out to citizens - similar to the "Energy Money" (Energiegeld[7]) suggested by the Greens, which I haven't yet covered here.

Unsurprisingly, the FDP is alone among the parties going public with their election program without any plans to increase taxes on the wealthy (SPD, Greens, Left - who is missing here? You are right, the CDU...). Instead, they would increase the margin for the highest earning tax bracket to a yearly income of EUR 90 000 (from the current EUR 57 052, compare this to the programs of the Greens[8] and Linke[9]). Germany's famous "Soli" (solidarity-compensation, an instrument whereby incomes in federal states of the original West-Germany get taxed extra and this money is invested in previous DDR states) would be canceled. Tax for businesses would be capped at 25 %. However, in exchange for the lower tax burden, companies should commit themselves[10] to investments totaling EUR 600 billion over 5 years. With this, the FDP aims to increase the total capital investments from the current 22 % to 25 % of the GDP, of which the state currently owns 3 %, a proportion considered already too high by the FDP. Party chairman Christian Lindner argued that the "state is not the best best investor, rather it should aim at relieving (the tax burden of) citizens and businesses". The FDP are once again profiling[11] themselves as a party for individual rights - for example, as outspoken critics of the curfews introduced by the government to fight the spread of Coronavirus, which they regard as disproportional. An interesting item on the FDP's agenda[12] is a suggested reform of election cycles from 4 to 5 years as well a two-term limit for chancellors.

In their foreign policy[13], the FDP is demanding that all negotiations about the possibility of Turkey joining the European Union should cease. They are committed[14] to NATO and propose that Germany invest 3 % of its GDP in the "3D - defence, development and diplomacy". In their Program, there are repeated references to the "challenge" posed by the authoritarian state of Xi Jinping's China and a commitment to an "Alliance of Democracies" as proposed by the US-administration. The tone regarding Putin's Russia is much more moderate, and even though freedom of the press and imprisonment of political opponents by the Putin regime is criticized, there is emphasis on Russia's close ties to Europe "humanly, culturally and economically" and repeated requests for constructive dialogue.

As a final point, the FDP is criticized[15] in German media for not having enough women in top positions. Even though the party defines the increasing this proportion, a quota for women (as in other parties) was not introduced.

Possible coalitions - Jamaica or Taffic Light?

In conservative polling FDP is projected to get about 12.8 %[16] of the vote in the September elections, and in a latest poll[17] commissioned by the Bild Zeitung they were estimated at a record 14 % in fourth place, just behind the SPD. There are at least two scenarios, both of them highly realistic, where the FDP would be part of a government coalition (small reminder: no single party has been able to achieve absolute majority in the German federal parliament since 1961, so the political reality is shaped more by compromises the parties hammer out in coalition deals than the programs of single parties alone).

I will not discuss the scenario of a "Germany" coalition[18] of CDU/CSU-SPD-FDP, since it is unlikely that the SPD or CDU would be open to such a construct - this would be seen as a mere "patching" of the current Grand Coalition ("GroKo"), which nobody seems interested in upholding.

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1: https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/die-drei-moeglichen-ampel-macher-fdp-chef-christian-lindner-links-mit-den-kandidaten-der-gruenen-un-c1276a664c5f4b9bbe5b793b77fae290-76818734/8,w=1986,q=low,c=0.bild.jpg

2: https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/nein-zur-gruenen-ampel-lindner-will-baerbock-nicht-zur-kanzlerin-waehlen-76818726.bild.html

3: https://www.fdp.de/sites/default/files/2021-06/FDP_Programm_Bundestagswahl2021_1.pdf

4: http://www.taz.de/FDP-beschliesst-Wahlprogramm/!5772489/

5: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/fdp-parteitag-193.html

6: https://lagedernation.org/podcast/ldn242-baerbocks-nebeneinkuenfte-laschet-punktet-fdp-fuer-klimadividende-giffeys-plagiatsaffaere-who-bilanz-divigate/

7: https://www.gruene-bundestag.de/videos/wie-unser-energiegeld-funktioniert

8: /germany/2021/02/10/Linke.html

9: /germany/2021/03/21/Greens.html

10: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/fdp-schlaegt-600-milliarden-pakt-mit-der-wirtschaft-vor-a-c2c25d98-5f7a-471c-a6ef-eade04f5772a

11: http://www.taz.de/FDP-beschliesst-Wahlprogramm/!5772489/

12: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/fdp-parteitag-193.html

13: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/fdp-parteitag-193.html

14: https://www.fdp.de/sites/default/files/2021-06/FDP_Programm_Bundestagswahl2021_1.pdf

15: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/fdp-frauenanteil-101.html

16: https://www.bundestagswahl-2021.de/fdp/

17: https://www.bundestagswahl-2021.de/umfragen/#entwicklung

18: https://www.bundestagswahl-2021.de/koalitionen/#schwarz-rot-gelb

19: https://www.bundestagswahl-2021.de/umfragen/#entwicklung

20: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/gruene-im-koalitionencheck-was-spricht-fuer-buendnisse-mit-union-spd-fdp-oder-linken-a-9af04289-6b3b-4dc4-803d-f94f1af32594#ref=rss

21: /germany/2021/03/21/Greens.html

22: /germany/2021/03/21/Greens.html

23: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/die-gruenen-und-fdp-als-moegliche-koalitionspartner-nach-der-wahl-sie-sind-sich-naeher-als-sie-denken-a-354a8a80-0002-0001-0000-000177967150?context=issue

24: /germany/2021/01/16/Laschet.html

25: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/gruene-im-koalitionencheck-was-spricht-fuer-buendnisse-mit-union-spd-fdp-oder-linken-a-9af04289-6b3b-4dc4-803d-f94f1af32594#ref=rss

26: http://www.taz.de/Bedeutung-fuer-moegliche-Koalition/!5765288/