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The German Green Party on Sunday adopted an electoral manifesto that promised to transform the country’s economy and accelerate its transition to carbon neutrality for ten years until 2035.
Committing to turning Germany into a “socio-ecological market economy,” Annalena Baerbock, the party’s candidate for chancellery, proposed a “pact with German industry” this weekend. Companies that would become climate-neutral and locate their production would receive compensation from the state, he said.
“To those who think that climate protection endangers prosperity, I would like to say: Yes, in the past, our prosperity was based on the burning of coal, oil and gas. But the twentieth century is over.” , said Baerbock. “The markets of the future will be climate neutral. . . The question is not whether this will happen, but who will do better. And I want us to be at the forefront. ”
She and her party have come under heavy scrutiny ahead of this September’s parliamentary elections, which will not only mark the end of Angela Merkel’s 16-year term as chancellor, but will see her first party on the green party field. candidate for the top job in Germany.
The Greens experienced a wave of popularity after Baerbock nomination but rivals have argued that their climate plans would cost people more, in terms of fuel and flights.
After fierce attacks by Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats and center-left Social Democrats, the Greens registered sixth place in a state choice last weekend. They have fallen to 22% the ballot boxes, with the CDU back at the top, with 28%.
Meanwhile, Baerbock has been embroiled in a wave of critic to delay notification of additional income and beautify your resume.
The CDU and the SPD, Germany’s dominant parties and wary of green ancestry, have attacked their planned carbon tax of 60 euros per tonne, arguing that it was a heavy burden for lower-income citizens. Green leaders have struggled to get their message across that it will only cost citizens a few cents more than the current government plan.
Delegates at this weekend’s conference broadly supported Baerbock, despite complaints from his younger left base that the leadership plan is too moderate. Delegates rejected his proposal to further raise carbon prices and backed a € 500 billion spending plan for the next ten years, based on a green proposal to ease Germany’s debt brake.
The change in the debt law, enshrined in the constitution, requires the support of two-thirds of parliament, which analysts doubt the Greens can assure. But the party wants to shake its image Feast of Prohibition (the party of prohibitions) and presents itself as engines of innovation and social justice.
This has done little to change the tone of the attacks. On Friday, a pressure group called the Initiative for a New Social Market Economy was set up ads to almost every major role, portraying Baerbock in a green robe like Moses, holding two stone tablets with the “new” Ten Commandments, including bans on flying vehicles and fossil fuels.
In promoting his economic plan, Baerbock explicitly referred to US President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 million infrastructure plan and called for “a transatlantic alliance for climate neutrality.”
He also had some harsh words for European and German foreign policy, criticizing the EU for its complacency regarding China’s European infrastructure purchases and reiterating its rejection of Berlin’s support for the disputed Nord Stream 2 pipeline. “Europe has been sold in the short term. However, we are the largest economic community in the world, ”he said. “We have everything we need to set our own standards. . . If we do not become more sovereign, others will decide for us. “
While pushing a tougher line against China and Russia could be music to many ears in Washington, the Greens also promised to renegotiate Germany’s commitment to NATO to spend 2% of its budget on defense, a measure that will probably not be popular with the Biden administration. .
Stefan Müller, parliamentary director of the Bavarian sister party of the CDU, the CSU, skewed the new platform as “the old family mix of redistributive left, comprehensive state control and moralizing knowledge-allism.”
Achim Post, deputy director of the SPD parliamentary group, called it a “booggle” of fiscal policy, arguing that it was “dominated by the principle of hope rather than realism”.
Baerbock, smiling after 98% of the delegates voted on the platform, acknowledged the difficulties ahead. “That was the easiest part,” he said. “Now the real campaign begins.”
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