CDU/CSU: program for the 2025 federal election

The CDU and the CSU want to pass a law cutting red tape every year and to strike two old rules for each new one. Documentation and reporting duties for companies are to shrink. The platform sees cutting red tape as giving back freedom and wants to relieve small and mid-sized firms in particular.

The CDU and the CSU want less red tape. Every year a law should remove old rules. For one new rule, two old ones should go. Companies should have to hand in fewer records and reports.

The CDU and the CSU want to abolish Germany's Supply Chain Act and to stop burdens from the taxonomy and sustainability reporting at the European level. EU law is no longer to be implemented in Germany more strictly than required.

The CDU and the CSU want to end the German supply chain law. This law makes companies watch over their suppliers. Fewer rules for companies should come from the EU too. Germany should not make EU rules stricter than needed.

The CDU and the CSU want to make the economy more resilient to crises, takeovers by systemic rivals and cyberattacks. At the same time, interventions by the Federal Cartel Office are again to require a breach of law. The platform points to growing geo-economic risks.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect the economy better. Rivals from other countries should not simply buy important companies. Small companies should get help against attacks from the internet. The cartel office should step in only when a law is broken.

The CDU and the CSU want to support free trade and conclude new trade agreements as well as energy and raw material partnerships. International cooperation is to be geared to Germany's strategic economic interests. The platform points out that one in four jobs depends on exports.

The CDU and the CSU want free trade with other countries. There should be new deals on trade, energy and raw materials. Aid for poorer countries should also help German business. Many jobs in Germany depend on exports.

The CDU and the CSU want the Mercosur agreement to take effect quickly and back further EU trade deals. They consider tariffs generally the wrong approach. Exporting companies are to get easier access to guarantees and export licenses.

The CDU and the CSU want more free trade. The deal with South America should start soon. It is called the Mercosur agreement. Companies should sell goods abroad more easily. The parties mostly think tariffs are wrong.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep close economic ties with China as long as they rest on reciprocity. At the same time, critical dependencies are to shrink, for example in raw materials, supply chains, semiconductors and battery cells.

Germany should keep trading with China. But Germany should depend less on China. For this, there should be more trade partners. Europe should make more computer chips and batteries itself. More raw materials should also come from Germany.

The CDU and the CSU want to launch a high-tech agenda for research, innovation, technology and transfer. An innovation freedom act is to relieve research institutions of funding bureaucracy. Mid-sized companies and spin-offs are to get easier access to funding.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen research. Researchers should have to fill out fewer forms. There should be a new law for this. Small and mid-sized companies should get funding more easily. Germany should be a leader in new technology.

The CDU and the CSU want to make it easier to start a business. Founders are to be exempt from many rules in the early phase, and venture capital is to get more attractive tax treatment.

The CDU and the CSU want more people to start a company. At the start, founders should face fewer rules. Only one office should handle the founding. New companies should get money more easily.

The CDU and the CSU want to expand the European capital markets union quickly and make Germany Europe's leading financial center in the long run. Banks should not be overburdened, and the EU taxonomy is to be watered down. The platform expects growth, jobs and prosperity from this.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen the market for investments in Europe. Germany should become the most important place for finance in Europe. Banks should not carry too many burdens. Rules for shares should become looser.

The CDU and the CSU want to move social insurance contributions back toward 40 percent. This is meant above all to relieve low earners. An annual report is to show how the social insurance funds are developing.

The CDU and the CSU want lower payments for social insurance. The payments should move back toward 40 percent. This should help people with low pay. A report should check the social funds every year.

The CDU and the CSU want to change the Working Hours Act and replace the daily maximum working time with a weekly one. Remote work and working from home are also to get clearer legal rules. The platform regards labor law as outdated and wants to adapt it to a digital world of work.

The CDU and the CSU want to change the rules on working hours. Today there is a limit per day. In the future there should be a limit per week. Working from home should also get clear rules.

The CDU and the CSU want a skilled-labor drive to bring more people in Germany into work or longer hours. Above all, women working part-time are to find it easier to work more, and unskilled helpers are to catch up on a vocational qualification. The platform sees the labor shortage as a risk to Germany as a business location.

The CDU and the CSU say: Germany lacks workers. Women in part-time jobs should find it easier to work more. People should be able to deduct more household help from their taxes. Helpers should be able to get a job qualification later.

The CDU and the CSU want to abolish Bürgergeld (citizen's income) in its current form and introduce a "Neue Grundsicherung" (new basic income support). In the parties' view, Bürgergeld weakens the incentive to work; anyone who can work and refuses work on principle is to get no benefit at all.

The CDU and the CSU want to end Bürgergeld (citizen's income). A new basic support should replace it. People who can work should work. People who refuse all work should get no more money. The office should check people's assets from day one.

The CDU and the CSU want more employees to be covered by collective agreements and want to modernize worker participation in companies. They want to keep the statutory minimum wage, but its level is to remain a matter for the independent commission, not parliament.

The CDU and the CSU want more collective agreements. These are contracts between unions and employers about pay and work. The minimum wage should stay. A commission should decide how high it is, not politicians. Works councils should also be able to meet and vote online.

The CDU and the CSU want to make it easier for people with disabilities to enter training and work and to remove everyday barriers faster. Alongside inclusive options, sheltered workshops and special-needs schools are to be kept.

The CDU and the CSU want to help people with disabilities more. They should find training and work more easily. Buses and trains should become barrier-free faster. Sheltered workshops and special schools should stay.

The CDU and the CSU want to leave the statutory retirement age and the pension after 45 insurance years unchanged. They rule out pension cuts; the pension level and contribution rates are to stay stable, which the program says economic growth should make possible.

The CDU and the CSU do not want to change the retirement age. Pensions should not go down. The payments into the pension system should also stay the same. Self-employed people should have to save for old age.

The CDU and the CSU want to introduce an "Aktivrente" (active pension). People who voluntarily keep working after reaching retirement age are to keep part of their salary tax-free.

The CDU and the CSU want an "active pension." Some people keep working by choice after retirement age. They should pay less tax on their pay. Up to 2,000 euros a month should be tax-free.

The CDU and the CSU want to set up a personal retirement account for every child, with the government paying into it each month. This is meant to get young people started early on capital-funded retirement saving and to build awareness of it.

The CDU and the CSU want an early-start pension. The government pays in 10 euros each month for every child. The money is invested in the capital market, for example in stocks. Later, people can keep paying in themselves. They get the money only at retirement age.

The CDU and the CSU want to lower income tax in several steps. The rate curve is to become flatter, the basic tax-free allowance is to rise, and the top rate is to apply only at a considerably higher income. The platform argues that the burden of taxes and contributions is too high.

The CDU and the CSU want to lower the tax on income. More income should stay tax-free. The highest tax rate should start later. Commuters should also pay less tax. Extra pay for overtime should be tax-free.

The CDU and the CSU want to gradually lower the tax on retained business profits to no more than 25 percent. Better rules for losses and depreciation come on top. In the platform's view, Germany is a high-tax country and must become competitive on its tax burden.

The CDU and the CSU want to lower taxes for companies. Profits that stay in the company should be taxed at 25 percent at most. Companies should be able to count losses and purchases better against tax. Family companies should be spared when they are inherited.

The CDU and the CSU want to abolish the remaining solidarity surcharge entirely. In their view it has served its purpose and can no longer be justified almost 35 years after reunification.

The CDU and the CSU want to end the solidarity surcharge completely. This is an extra tax. Today companies, people with high incomes and savers still pay it. The parties say: this tax has done its job.

The CDU and the CSU want to cut the sales tax on food served in restaurants to seven percent. The measure is one of the steps by which the parties want to reduce the tax burden on business.

The CDU and the CSU want a lower tax on meals in restaurants. The sales tax there should be 7 percent. This should help restaurants.

The CDU and the CSU want to make tax law simpler, strike rules and digitize procedures. Retirees are generally no longer to have to file a tax return. The platform sees tax bureaucracy as a heavy burden on citizens and companies.

The CDU and the CSU want simpler tax rules. Retirees should mostly not have to file a tax return anymore. There should be more flat amounts instead of single receipts. Companies should keep receipts for only 5 years.

The CDU and the CSU want to ease the tax burden on buying and inheriting owner-occupied homes. They reject a wealth tax because they do not want to burden people who have built something up.

The CDU and the CSU want more families to own a home. The first purchase should be taxed less. Inheriting a home should also be taxed less. The parties do not want a tax on wealth.

The CDU and the CSU want to make it easier for employees, especially those with low and middle incomes, to build wealth. A new bonus, higher tax allowances, and more attractive stakes in one's own company are meant to serve that goal.

The CDU and the CSU want workers to be able to save more easily. There should be a new bonus from the government for this. It mainly helps people with low pay. People who get shares in their company should pay less tax.

The CDU and the CSU want to leave the constitutional debt brake unchanged. They justify this with fairness between generations. At the start of the legislative term, all federal spending is to be reviewed, especially subsidies.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep the debt brake. This is a rule in the constitution. It allows the state only a little new debt. The parties want to check all spending. Spending without benefit should end.

The CDU and the CSU want to preserve cash so that everyone can choose how to pay in everyday life. They support a digital euro only under certain conditions. They are open in principle to new payment methods.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep cash. Everyone should decide how to pay. The parties accept a digital euro only under conditions. It should not replace cash.

The CDU and the CSU want to cut building regulations substantially, provide more land for building and allow no new standards that drive up costs. According to the platform, only more supply will ease the housing market.

Building should become cheaper and faster. There should be fewer rules for this. There should be more land to build on. There should be no new costly building rules.

The CDU and the CSU want to boost new construction with higher depreciation allowances and focus subsidies on apartment buildings in tight markets. Home ownership is to become easier to reach; the parties also commit to tenant protection, including rules on rent levels.

People who build homes should pay less tax. This should lead to more homes. Families should find it easier to buy their own home. Protection for renters should stay.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep parental leave and Elterngeld (parental allowance) and improve the allowance. In addition, childcare is to be expanded, counseling and early support strengthened, and all family benefits made accessible through one digital portal.

The CDU and the CSU want to make the parental allowance better. There should be more and better childcare. Families should get more advice and help. One website should show all benefits for families.

The CDU and the CSU want to ease the financial burden on families: the tax allowance for children should move toward the basic allowance for adults, and Kindergeld (child benefit) should rise accordingly. Ehegattensplitting (joint tax filing for married couples) is to stay because, in the parties' view, couples with unequal incomes would otherwise be disadvantaged.

The CDU and the CSU want families to keep more money. Parents should pay less tax for their children. The child benefit should go up. It should come automatically after a birth. The tax advantage for married couples should stay.

The CDU and the CSU do not want to change the existing rules on abortion. They regard them as a societal compromise between a woman's self-determination and the protection of unborn life.

The CDU and the CSU do not want to change the abortion rules. Section 218 of the criminal code should stay. The parties call the rules a compromise. It should protect women and unborn children.

The CDU and the CSU want to deny custody and contact rights to parents who are violent toward their partner. Acknowledging paternity only for show in order to obtain a residence right is to become a criminal offense.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect children better. A parent who is violent toward a partner should lose custody. Some men claim to be a father only for show. This gives someone a right to stay. That should become a crime.

The CDU and the CSU want government and business together to spend 3.5 percent of economic output on research and development by 2030. More startups should emerge from top-level research and grow into global market leaders.

The CDU and the CSU want more money for research. Government and companies should spend more on it by 2030. More new companies should come out of research. Ocean research should also get stronger.

The CDU and the CSU want every child to speak German when starting school. To this end, the developmental level of all three- to four-year-olds is to be assessed, and children who need support are to be required to attend a preschool program.

The CDU and the CSU want every child to know German before school. Experts should test all children at age three or four. Children with problems must then attend a program before school. The program Sprach-Kitas (language daycare) should start again.

The CDU and the CSU want the quality of schooling not to depend on where a child lives. They rely on binding comparative tests, an Abitur (university entrance diploma) that is comparable across Germany, and more all-day programs at elementary schools.

The CDU and the CSU want equally good schools across Germany. Students should take similar tests everywhere. The Abitur diploma should be worth the same everywhere. Elementary school children should get more all-day programs.

The CDU and the CSU want to launch a second DigitalPakt (digital pact) for schools and create a nationwide register of educational pathways, starting with an ID number for every student. The effects of early social media use are to be assessed scientifically, followed by a package of measures.

The CDU and the CSU want to make schools more digital. There should be a new program for this. Every student should get a number. This helps researchers study how students move through school. The parties also want to check how social media harms children.

The CDU and the CSU regard vocational and academic education as equal in value and want to lay that down in binding form. In addition, dual vocational training, career guidance in schools and paths to a vocational qualification for low-skilled people are to be strengthened.

The CDU and the CSU say job training and university are worth the same. This should be written in a treaty between the federal government and the states. Vocational schools should get better. All schools should help with choosing a job. People without a qualification should be able to earn one step by step.

The CDU and the CSU want to promote top-level research through competition and further develop the Excellence Strategy. Mid-level academic staff at universities are to be strengthened and research cooperation with Israel deepened.

The CDU and the CSU want to support very good research. Universities should compete for this. Applications should need less paperwork. Young researchers should get better chances. Germany should do more research with Israel.

The CDU and the CSU want to expand strategic security research and remove restrictions on military research. The platform calls this research existentially important for Germany.

The CDU and the CSU want more research on security. Researchers should also be allowed to do research for the military. Today there are limits on that. These limits should go.

The CDU and the CSU want BAföG (state student aid) and scholarships to cover living costs, and want applications to be fully digital. BAföG recipients are to be allowed to earn more on the side, and the student loan is to get a fixed interest rate.

BAföG is money from the state for students. It should be enough to live on. People should be able to apply fully online. People who get BAföG should be allowed to earn more on the side. Scholarships should also go up.

The CDU and the CSU want good care in cities and rural areas to be the guiding idea of the hospital reform and want to correct what they see as the reform's flaws. Uncontrolled hospital closures are to be prevented.

The CDU and the CSU want to change the hospital reform. Rural areas should also have enough hospitals. Hospitals should not close without a plan. The states keep planning their hospitals themselves.

The CDU and the CSU want general practitioners and pediatricians to guide patients through the system more strongly, so that treatment is better coordinated and waiting times fall. Statutory health insurance is to be put on a sound footing through more efficiency and more competition among insurers.

The family doctor or children's doctor should guide patients through the system. This should help patients get appointments faster. Health insurers should spend money more carefully. They should compete more with each other.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen local pharmacies with a reform and make the pharmaceutical and health industry a leading sector. Shortages of medicines and medical devices are to be reduced.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep local pharmacies. They plan a reform for this. Drug companies should have it easier in Germany. Medicines should no longer run short.

The CDU and the CSU want to fund long-term care through statutory insurance, employer contributions, tax money and private provision. The statutory long-term care insurance is to be stabilized quickly and thoroughly updated so that needing care does not lead to poverty.

Long-term care costs a lot of money. The money should come from several sources. These are care insurance, employers, taxes and people's own savings. Needing care should not make anyone poor.

The CDU and the CSU want to tackle staff shortages in care with better working conditions and recruitment abroad. Family caregivers are to be supported through a flexible care budget and an easier balance between caregiving and work.

There are not enough care workers. So the work should get better, for example with fixed schedules. Care workers from other countries should also come. People who care for family at home should get more help.

The CDU and the CSU reject active euthanasia and want to pass a comprehensive suicide prevention law. Hospice and palliative care are to be expanded to allow people to die with dignity.

The CDU and the CSU are against active euthanasia. That means nobody may kill another person at that person's request. There should be a law that helps prevent suicides. Dying people should get more good care.

The CDU and the CSU want to create a digital federal immigration agency that handles foreign skilled workers from recruitment through to the residence permit. Foreign vocational qualifications are to be recognized more simply and quickly. Asylum procedures are to be separated from immigration into the labor market.

The CDU and the CSU want to attract skilled workers from abroad. A new digital agency should do this. It takes care of everything: job, visa and residence. Qualifications from abroad should be recognized faster.

The CDU and the CSU want to turn back people at Germany's borders who arrive from another EU or Schengen country and want to apply for asylum. Border checks would continue for as long as the parties consider necessary. The stated goal is to stop irregular migration.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep checking Germany's borders. People who come from another EU country and want asylum may not enter. Police will send these people back. The parties want to take in fewer people this way.

The CDU and the CSU want to suspend family reunification for people with subsidiary protection and end all voluntary admission programs. At the EU level, they want subsidiary protection status to be abolished.

Some refugees have a limited form of protection. It is called subsidiary protection. They should no longer be allowed to bring their families. Germany should also stop taking in people voluntarily. The CDU and the CSU want to abolish this protection across Europe.

The CDU and the CSU want to prioritize in-kind benefits over cash and introduce the payment card in every state. People required to leave the country would get only a minimum or no benefits at all. Newly arriving refugees from Ukraine would no longer receive Bürgergeld (citizen's income).

Asylum seekers should get less cash. Instead they get goods and a payment card. People who must leave Germany should get only the bare minimum. New refugees from Ukraine should no longer get Bürgergeld, a basic welfare payment. They should find work quickly.

The CDU and the CSU want to raise the number of deportations through a dedicated law and deport people to Afghanistan and Syria on a regular basis. Offenders and people deemed a security threat who are required to leave could be held in open-ended pre-departure detention after serving their sentence. More countries would be classified as safe countries of origin.

People with no right to protection must leave Germany. The CDU and the CSU want to deport more people. This should also include Afghanistan and Syria. Criminals should stay locked up after prison until they leave. The federal police should get more powers for this.

The CDU and the CSU want to launch an EU asylum reform: anyone who applies for asylum in Europe would be transferred to a safe country outside the EU and have their case processed there. After that, the parties want to admit a limited number of people in need of protection each year directly from abroad.

The CDU and the CSU want to change asylum law in Europe. Asylum cases should be handled in safe countries outside Europe. People who are accepted should get protection there. Germany should then take in a fixed number of people each year.

The CDU and the CSU want much stronger protection of the EU's external borders, including physical barriers and technology. The border agency Frontex is to get more staff and sovereign powers of its own. In the long run this is meant to make checks at borders inside the EU unnecessary.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect the EU's outer borders better. This includes fences and technology. Frontex is the EU's border agency. It should get more staff and more powers. Checks between EU countries should end later.

The CDU and the CSU want to define and enforce a Leitkultur (guiding culture) and demand integration more firmly than before. Recognized refugees are to receive mandatory integration agreements. The platform argues that a diverse society needs binding rules.

The CDU and the CSU want a guiding culture for Germany. That means shared values that apply to everyone. Immigrants should commit to these values. Recognized refugees should get fixed agreements on integration. There should be many German classes.

The CDU and the CSU want to abolish naturalization after three years of residence and the general option of dual citizenship. In their view, citizenship comes at the end of successful integration.

Today some people can become German after only three years. The CDU and the CSU want to end that. Holding two passports should no longer be generally allowed. People who want to become German must speak German well and have work.

The CDU and the CSU say they support gender-fair language but reject what they see as an ideologically driven obligation to use gendered forms. Schools, universities, broadcasters and public administration should not use such gender language.

The CDU and the CSU do not want special gender wording in schools and public offices. This also applies to universities and broadcasters. The parties say forcing this wording shuts people out. Language should still be fair to women and men.

The CDU and the CSU want to present a package of measures against discrimination toward older people. In addition, networks against loneliness are to receive continued support, which the program justifies with the aging society.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect older people from unfair treatment. They plan several measures for this. Older people should also be able to use digital services well. The parties also want to do something about loneliness.

The CDU and the CSU reject that minors can change their gender entry and first name without an expert assessment under the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (Self-Determination Act). They demand independent psychological assessments and do not want to allow what they see as a careless change for adults either.

Today people can change their gender entry easily at a government office. The CDU and the CSU do not want this for children and teenagers. A psychologist should write a report first. The parties reject surgery before age 18. Rules should also get stricter for adults.

The CDU and the CSU want to use all climate-friendly forms of generation and keep expanding renewable energy. A technology-neutral capacity market is to secure supply. Grids, storage and generation are to be planned together.

The CDU and the CSU want more power from wind, sun, water and wood. Power plants should stand ready as a reserve. The power grids should grow faster. For this, more lines should be built above ground.

The CDU and the CSU stand by the agreed coal phase-out. However, further coal plants are to go offline permanently only once new gas plants and combined heat and power plants are in place as replacements.

Germany wants to stop using coal. The CDU and the CSU stick to this. But coal plants should close only when there is a replacement. The replacement is new gas power plants. The coal regions should get the money they were promised.

The CDU and the CSU see an important role for nuclear power in meeting climate targets and securing supply. They want research into new reactor types and fusion, and a review of whether the most recently shut down nuclear plants can be restarted.

The CDU and the CSU do not want to rule out nuclear power. They want research on new kinds of nuclear plants. Experts should check something. They should say if old nuclear plants can run again. This must not be too costly or too hard.

The CDU and the CSU want to make electricity cheaper for everyone by cutting the electricity tax and reducing grid fees. Germany is to remain a single electricity price zone.

Electricity should get cheaper. The CDU and the CSU want to cut the tax on electricity. The fees for the power grid should also go down. The power price should be set the same way all over Germany.

The CDU and the CSU want to repeal the heating law passed by the "Ampel" coalition. Owners are to decide for themselves which heating system fits their home and budget. Buildings are to become more climate-friendly through carbon pricing, subsidies and technology-neutral solutions.

The CDU and the CSU want to end the heating law. People should choose their own heating. Heating with wood should stay possible. Climate-friendly heating should get support money.

The CDU and the CSU want to advance the hydrogen economy with planning certainty and the necessary infrastructure. The core hydrogen network is to reach all economic regions.

Hydrogen is a gas that can supply energy. The CDU and the CSU want to build a network for hydrogen. All regions with a lot of industry should be connected. No region should be worse off.

The CDU and the CSU commit to the Paris climate goals and to climate neutrality by 2045. They tie this goal to a competitive economy and social affordability. The country is also to adapt more to climate change.

Germany should be climate neutral by 2045. That means: on balance, no more harmful gases are produced. The CDU and the CSU want to keep the economy strong while doing this. Climate protection should be affordable for people. Cities should prepare for more heat and floods.

The CDU and the CSU want to make emissions trading the main instrument of climate policy. The revenue is to flow back to consumers and businesses, first through a lower electricity tax and grid fees and through a climate bonus.

Those who emit harmful CO2 should pay for it. This should become the main tool for climate protection. People and companies should get the money back. For this, electricity should get cheaper. There should also be a climate bonus.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect endangered species and their habitats, rewet peatlands, and keep seas and inland waters clean. They rely on cooperation with owners and users and on a circular economy.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect endangered animals and plants. Peatlands should become wet again, because they store CO2. Seas and rivers should stay clean. More waste should be recycled. Those who badly harm the environment should be punished.

The CDU and the CSU want to introduce nationwide mandatory insurance against natural hazard damage because extreme weather is increasing. This is meant to distribute the burden fairly in the interest of taxpayers. Coastal and flood protection are to take priority.

There are more and more storms and floods. So the CDU and the CSU want mandatory insurance. It pays for damage caused by nature. Then taxpayers do not have to cover the damage. Protection against floods should be especially important.

The CDU and the CSU reject a general ban on PFAS chemicals where the substances cannot currently be replaced. Instead, they want to assess risks case by case and invest in research on substitutes.

PFAS are chemicals that stay in the environment for a very long time. The CDU and the CSU do not want to ban all of them. Some of these substances cannot be replaced today. The parties want to check each risk on its own. Researchers should find substitutes.

The CDU and the CSU want to actively manage the wolf population and allow wolves to be hunted, with rules varying by region. To do so, the wolf's protected status would be changed. The stated goal is to better protect grazing animals.

Wolves sometimes kill sheep and other animals in the fields. So the CDU and the CSU want to allow hunting of wolves. The rules can differ from region to region. To do this, they want to change how wolves are protected.

The CDU and the CSU want to bring back the full tax refund on diesel used in farming. Biofuels and synthetic fuels used in agriculture and forestry would be exempt from energy tax. The platform presents this as relief for farms.

Farmers get back part of the tax on diesel. This refund is being cut right now. The CDU and the CSU want to pay it in full again. Farmers should also pay no energy tax on biofuels.

The CDU and the CSU want to greatly simplify the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and reduce reporting and record-keeping duties for farmers. They want to block new EU obligations early on. Environmental goals would be reached through incentives rather than mandates.

Farmers have to fill out many forms and follow many rules. The CDU and the CSU want to cut this down a lot. The EU farm rules should become simpler. Farmers should get money for protecting nature. Nobody should force them to leave fields unused.

The CDU and the CSU want to reverse the ban on new combustion engine cars and review the CO2 fleet limits. They reject a general speed limit on the autobahn and driving bans in city centers, because they see individual mobility as an expression of freedom.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep allowing cars with gasoline and diesel engines. The planned ban should go. There should be no general speed limit on the autobahn. A driver's license should be affordable for young people.

The CDU and the CSU want to slim down and reorganize Deutsche Bahn. The rail network and train operations are to be separated more clearly to allow more competition.

The CDU and the CSU want to rebuild Deutsche Bahn. The company should become leaner. Tracks and train services should be more separate. The federal government pays most of the cost for the tracks.

The CDU and the CSU want to fund transport infrastructure on a lasting basis, independent of budget swings, and attract private capital. Planning procedures are to become simpler and faster.

Roads, bridges and rail lines are old. The CDU and the CSU want to secure enough money for them in the long run. Private investors should also put in money. Building projects should get approval faster.

The CDU and the CSU want to allow other climate-friendly drive systems and fuels alongside electric vehicles, such as e-fuels, hydrogen and biofuels. All modes of transport are meant to complement each other, and Germany is to become a technology leader in autonomous driving.

The CDU and the CSU want to allow many kinds of engines. These include electric cars, hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Cars, buses, trains and bikes should work well together. People should be able to register cars online everywhere.

The CDU and the CSU want to give every citizen a secure digital identity with a personal inbox for dealing with government offices. Public administration is to work fully digitally and use artificial intelligence.

The CDU and the CSU want to make government offices digital. Every person should get a digital account for these offices. ID cards and driver's licenses should be on the phone. Computer programs should handle simple requests faster.

The CDU and the CSU want to implement the EU's AI regulation with little red tape and not go beyond what it requires. AI research and applications are to be promoted because the parties see them as a precondition for competitiveness.

The CDU and the CSU want to support artificial intelligence. The short word for it is AI. The EU rules for AI should not be made even stricter. Small companies should get help with using AI. Europe should have its own large computers and data storage.

The CDU and the CSU want to expand fast internet and mobile networks everywhere, especially in rural areas. An acceleration law is meant to speed up permits.

The CDU and the CSU want fast internet everywhere. This matters most for villages and small towns. The cell phone network should also get better. A new law should make permits faster.

The CDU and the CSU want to create a separate federal ministry for digital affairs. It is meant to bring the responsibilities for digital issues, now spread out, together in one place.

The CDU and the CSU want a new ministry for digital matters. This ministry should take care of all digital issues. These include networks, data, and digital government offices. It should also buy the computer technology for the federal government.

The CDU and the CSU want to make data protection more pragmatic and make it easier to use data. In their view, too many rules and legal uncertainty keep companies and researchers from making enough use of data.

The CDU and the CSU want simpler rules for data protection. Companies and researchers should be able to use data more easily. Every person should decide about their own data. There should be fewer duplicate agencies for data protection.

The CDU and the CSU want to make the Federal Office for Information Security the central agency for cybersecurity and build up an active federal cyber defense. The parties point to the growing number and severity of cyberattacks.

Attacks over the internet are increasing. The CDU and the CSU want to protect Germany better against them. One federal office should become the central agency for online security. The federal government should be able to stop attacks from abroad. Children and teens should be better protected online.

The CDU and the CSU want more video surveillance in dangerous public places and automated facial recognition at train stations, airports, and crime hot spots. The aim is to identify serious offenders. The parties say this will make everyday life safer.

The CDU and the CSU want more cameras in dangerous places. At train stations and airports, computers should recognize faces. This should help police find serious criminals. The parties say everyone should be able to move around without fear.

The CDU and the CSU want tougher penalties for stalking, assault, especially with knives, and gang rape. Victims of domestic violence would get more protection, including wider use of electronic ankle monitors for offenders. Attacks on emergency responders would also be punished more severely.

The CDU and the CSU want tougher penalties for violence. This covers knife attacks and stalking, for example. Stalking means someone follows and harasses a person again and again. Women and children should get better protection from violence at home.

The CDU and the CSU want to undo the legalization of cannabis. In the platform's view, the cannabis law has neither limited consumption nor pushed back the black market.

Since 2024, cannabis has been partly legal for adults. The CDU and the CSU want to ban it again. They say the law has not helped. There is still a black market and violence between gangs.

The CDU and the CSU want adult criminal law to apply to everyone aged 18 to 21. In addition, a scientific study would examine whether criminal responsibility starting at age 14 is still appropriate.

Today, many people aged 18 to 21 get milder sentences under juvenile law. The CDU and the CSU want to change that. Adult criminal law should apply to them. The parties also want to check whether children under 14 can be punished.

The CDU and the CSU want to require internet providers to store IP addresses and port numbers for a minimum period. Federal security agencies would get further digital powers, such as remote searches of devices and AI-based data analysis. According to the platform, protecting the public should take priority over individual data privacy.

Every computer on the internet has a number, the IP address. Internet companies should store these numbers for a while. This should help police solve serious crimes. Police and other agencies should also be allowed to secretly search computers. The parties say safety matters more than data privacy.

The CDU and the CSU want to equip police everywhere with tasers and allow body cameras inside homes as well. They want to abolish the Federal Police Commissioner and reject ID badges and stop receipts for federal police. Accusations against security agencies would be handled by prosecutors and courts.

Police officers should get tasers and body cameras. They should be allowed to use the cameras inside homes too. The CDU and the CSU want to abolish the Federal Police Commissioner. Federal police officers should not have to wear an ID number. The parties say police should have less paperwork.

The CDU and the CSU want to conclude a "Pact for Civil Protection" with the states and launch a special program for civil defense. This is meant to prepare Germany better for extreme weather, pandemics, terrorism, and hybrid warfare.

Germany should be better prepared for crises. Crises are things like floods, power outages, or attacks. The CDU and the CSU want to spend more on disaster protection. There should be more warning systems. People themselves should also prepare.

The CDU and the CSU want to quickly present a law to combat extremism. Promoting terrorist organizations would become a crime. Anyone who publicly calls for abolishing the democratic constitutional order or is convicted of an antisemitic offense would face expulsion and, as a dual national, lose German citizenship.

The CDU and the CSU want a new law against extremism. Promoting terror groups should be a crime. Some offenders should have to leave Germany. People with two passports could lose the German one.

The CDU and the CSU want to act equally against Islamism, right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism. Mosques where hatred is preached are to be closed, and associations monitored by the domestic intelligence service are to receive no public money. Extremists are to be disarmed without burdening legal gun owners.

The CDU and the CSU want to act against all extremism. Mosques with hate preaching should close. Monitored groups should get no state money. Extremists should not have weapons. Hunters and sport shooters should face no disadvantages.

The CDU and the CSU want to make denying Israel's right to exist a crime and classify antisemitic incitement as an especially serious case. Antisemitic offenses are to lead to loss of protection status and deportation. Funded organizations are to declare their opposition to antisemitism.

The CDU and the CSU want tougher penalties for hatred of Jews. Denying Israel's right to exist should be a crime. Refugees who commit such crimes should lose their protection. People who want to become German must accept Israel's existence.

The CDU and the CSU want to create a customs police force that pools investigations into financial crime. For assets of unclear origin, the owner would in future have to prove they were obtained legally. Europol and the federal-state initiative against clan crime are also to be strengthened.

The CDU and the CSU want a new customs police against money laundering. Money laundering means criminals hide where money comes from. People with suspicious assets should have to prove the origin. Police in Europe should work together more closely.

The CDU and the CSU want to prevent foreign governments from influencing Muslims in Germany through mosque associations and Islamic federations. A duty to disclose funding and donors is to be introduced. At the same time, they want a foundation to support mosque communities loyal to the constitution.

The CDU and the CSU do not want foreign governments to influence mosques. Mosque associations should show where their money comes from. Groups with money from foreign governments get no German state money. Imams should be trained in Germany and in German.

The CDU and the CSU want to relieve associations and volunteers of red tape through a package for clubs. The tax-free allowances for volunteers and for trainers are to rise noticeably.

The CDU and the CSU want to help clubs and associations. Clubs should have less paperwork. People who volunteer should pay less tax. Clubs should get public funding more easily.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen cities, towns and counties and achieve equivalent living conditions in urban and rural areas. According to the platform, whoever decides on or expands a public service should also pay for it. Municipalities are to be involved earlier in decisions and receive reliable revenue sources.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen cities and towns. The federal government should pay for new tasks itself. Towns should have a say earlier. They should have secure income. Life in the countryside should be as good as in the city.

The CDU and the CSU want to scrap the electoral law passed by the previous 'traffic light' coalition and reform it. The Bundestag is to stay smaller, but directly elected members should not be weakened. The platform sees them as a guarantee of closeness to citizens and independence.

The CDU and the CSU want to change the election law again. The Bundestag should stay small. But people who win their district should stay strong. The parties say these members are close to the people.

The CDU and the CSU want to cut the number of federal commissioners by at least half and reduce staff in ministries and the Bundestag administration by at least ten percent. The administration is to work digitally by default and get more discretion. According to the platform, the goal is a state that acts faster and sees itself as a service provider.

The CDU and the CSU want fewer staff in the ministries. There should be only half as many commissioners. Offices should work digitally. People should give their data only once. Offices should be freer to decide.

The CDU and the CSU want to shorten planning and approval procedures. To do so, the right of associations to sue against infrastructure projects is to be removed, which the parties want to push for at EU level. Applications are to be decided faster and court proceedings shortened.

The CDU and the CSU want faster building and faster permits. Associations should no longer be able to sue against big building projects. Offices should decide on applications faster. There should be fewer court levels.

The CDU and the CSU want clear progress on admitting the Western Balkan states to the EU without loosening the accession criteria. They see membership as being in Germany's economic and security interest. For Belarus, they want to support the democracy movement.

The CDU and the CSU want the Western Balkan countries to join the EU. The rules for joining stay just as strict. In Belarus, the parties want to support the democracy movement.

The CDU and the CSU want the EU to limit itself to tasks with European added value and drop dispensable ones. They call for less EU bureaucracy and more competitiveness. At the same time, reforms are to make the EU more capable of acting and more respectful of subsidiarity.

The CDU and the CSU want an EU with clear priorities. The EU should only handle what it does better than single countries. There should be less red tape from Europe. The EU should also be able to act faster.

The CDU and the CSU want EU accession tied more closely to candidates' actual progress, without loosening the criteria. For countries that do not yet meet every requirement, they propose intermediate stages. Relations with neighboring states are to be reset.

The CDU and the CSU want new countries to join the EU. But these countries must meet all conditions. There should be in-between steps on the way. The parties say Turkey cannot join right now.

The CDU and the CSU reject Germany being liable for the debts of other countries. The European debt rules are to remain binding, with violations penalized automatically. For crises, the parties call for an insolvency framework for member states.

The CDU and the CSU do not want to pay for other countries' debts. The debt rules in Europe should apply strictly. Countries that break them should be punished automatically. There should be fixed rules for states that go bankrupt.

The CDU and the CSU want to support Ukraine diplomatically, financially, with humanitarian aid and with weapons. In the program's view, Ukraine is also defending Germany, because its defeat would risk another attack in Europe. Sanctions against Russia are to be expanded.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep helping Ukraine. This includes money, aid for people and weapons. Sanctions against Russia should get stricter. Ukraine should be able to join the EU later.

The CDU and the CSU want to develop the Federal Security Council into a National Security Council in the Chancellery. It is to coordinate key questions of foreign and security policy and serve as the decision-making body in crises. The National Security Strategy is also to be fundamentally reviewed in the first year in government.

The CDU and the CSU want a National Security Council. It should work in the Chancellery. It should coordinate security and foreign policy. The security strategy should also be reviewed.

The CDU and the CSU want to deepen the partnership with the United States and start a high-level strategic dialogue for that purpose. They want to coordinate closely with France and Poland in the Weimar Triangle. The program calls the US the most important ally outside Europe.

The CDU and the CSU want to work more closely with the US. There should be new high-level talks. The parties also want to work more closely with France and Poland.

The CDU and the CSU want to support Israel militarily as well and lift existing obstacles to arms exports. At the same time they back a two-state solution in the Middle East. They want to increase pressure on Iran, which they see as a major danger to Israel and world peace.

The CDU and the CSU want to help Israel, also with weapons. They want peace between Israelis and Palestinians with two states. The parties want to be tougher on Iran.

The CDU and the CSU want to push back China's influence together with partners wherever German strategic interests are affected. They favor an independent European China policy closely coordinated with the US. Germany is to have a stronger economic and diplomatic presence in the Indo-Pacific.

The CDU and the CSU want to limit China's influence. Europe should have its own China policy. Germany should work more closely with countries like Japan and India.

The CDU and the CSU want to attach conditions to development policy, including the rule of law, stopping illegal migration and fighting terrorism. Humanitarian aid and development cooperation are to be merged again. For Africa and the Sahel, the parties plan a closer partnership and a new strategy.

The CDU and the CSU want to attach conditions to development aid. Countries should, for example, stop illegal migration. Emergency aid and development aid should belong together again. There should be a new strategy for Africa.

The CDU and the CSU want to fully equip the Bundeswehr, build up material reserves and reorganize its structures. The reserve force is to be restructured and a drone army built. The aim is for the Bundeswehr to make a central contribution to NATO's deterrence.

The CDU and the CSU want to make the Bundeswehr stronger. The troops should get all the equipment they need. There should be a drone army. The reserve should also get better. The reserve is former soldiers who help in an emergency.

The CDU and the CSU commit to NATO and want to meet its defense funding obligations permanently. They treat two percent of economic output as a minimum. They stand by nuclear sharing and welcome long-range US weapons in Germany.

The CDU and the CSU support NATO. NATO is a defense alliance. Germany should spend at least two percent of its economic output on defense. The parties welcome the US plan to place long-range weapons in Germany.

The CDU and the CSU want to introduce a gradually expanding military draft and, in the long run, a mandatory year of community service. The Bundeswehr is to grow from 180,000 to 203,000 soldiers. The platform cites the personnel needed for deterrence and NATO targets.

The CDU and the CSU want a military draft again. It should grow step by step. Later there should be a required year of service for society. The army should have 203,000 soldiers instead of 180,000. The parties also want the army to be more visible in public.

The CDU and the CSU want to build a European single market for defense goods with common export rules. Defense companies are to get easier access to financing, and Bundeswehr procurement is to become faster. The platform sees a homegrown defense industry as strategically important for European sovereignty.

The CDU and the CSU want one shared European market for defense goods. The same export rules should apply everywhere. Defense companies should get money more easily. The army should be able to buy equipment faster.

The CDU and the CSU want faster reform of public broadcasting, committing it to thrift, diversity of opinion and neutrality. Private media are to get fair competitive conditions.

The CDU and the CSU want to reform the public broadcasters. The broadcasters should spend carefully. They should show many opinions and report neutrally. Private media should have fair conditions.

The CDU and the CSU see cultural funding as a shared public task of the federal government, the states and municipalities. They want to preserve cultural venues in cities and rural areas, continue the culture of remembrance and add colonial history to it, and strengthen the creative industries.

The CDU and the CSU want to support culture. Museums, theaters and libraries should also exist in rural areas. Germany should keep remembering its two dictatorships. It should also remember the colonial era. Clubs should count as places of culture.

The CDU and the CSU want to preserve the cultural heritage of German expellees and resettlers and increase funding for remembering flight and expulsion. Late resettlers (Spätaussiedler) should continue to be admitted, and disadvantages in their pensions should be removed.

The CDU and the CSU want to care for the culture of expellees. Expellees are Germans who had to leave their homes in the East after the war. The federal government should give more money for this. Ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe should still be allowed to come. Their pensions should become fairer.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep Christian holidays, Sunday rest and cooperation between church and state, and to upgrade religious education. They want to protect religious freedom and update the strategy against antisemitism.

The CDU and the CSU want to protect Christian holidays. Sunday should stay a day of rest. Religion should be a regular school subject. The parties want to protect Jews in Germany better. Everyone should be free to practice their religion.

The CDU and the CSU want to concentrate sports policy in the Chancellery and appoint a minister of state for sports and volunteering there. Grassroots and elite sports are to be supported equally, and Germany should bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen sports. A minister of state for sports should work in the Chancellery. Elementary school children should do half an hour of sports every day. All children should learn to swim. Germany should bid for the Olympic Games.