AfD on Europe

The AfD wants the EU procurement directives to be mandatory only for large state projects. Smaller public contracts would then go more easily to local businesses, which the party says suffer from unfair competition from low-wage countries.

The EU has rules for public contracts. The AfD wants them to apply only to very large projects. Smaller contracts should go to local businesses more often. The AfD thinks competition with cheaper countries is unfair.

The program argues that small and medium-sized businesses in rural areas provide many jobs and rely on public contracts. Lower social, environmental and tax standards in other EU countries are said to distort competition and push down wages. Taxes and levies would also flow out of the region. In economic development policy, the AfD wants to end permanent subsidies and focus on small and medium-sized businesses, start-ups and business succession.

The AfD demands that the European Central Bank immediately stop expanding the money supply and end its low-interest-rate policy, returning to a stability-oriented policy. In the party's view, this policy drives up prices and rents and hurts savers and retirement provision.

The ECB is the central bank for the euro. The AfD says the ECB has created too much new money. That makes everything more expensive. Interest rates for savers are too low. The AfD wants the ECB to stop this right away.

The platform cites around 4,000 billion euros that it says the ECB created within two years. It argues this pushed up asset and commodity prices while wages and pensions lost purchasing power. Interest rates, it says, have been pushed down into negative territory for more than ten years to prop up over-indebted eurozone states. According to the AfD, pension funds, life insurers and savers suffer as a result. The party rejects higher inflation targets.

The AfD wants to end the financing of other eurozone states through Target 2 balances. First, the EU treaties that prohibit state financing and shared debt are to be observed; then all powers over money, banks, taxes and budgets are to return to the national level.

Target 2 is a payment system of the euro central banks. Other countries owe the Bundesbank a lot of money there. The AfD wants to end this. There should be no shared debt in the EU. Germany should again decide alone on money, banks and taxes.

The platform puts the Bundesbank's Target 2 claims against other euro central banks at 1,200 billion euros and calls them uncovered. It points to economists who fear the Bundesbank would become insolvent and German taxpayers would pay if a country such as Italy left. The AfD regards current practice as unlawful state financing. As a second step, it demands that all monetary powers be returned to national hands.