CDU/CSU on democracy and the state

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 package is to address bureaucracy, data protection and liability. Private donations are to become more attractive and public funding easier to obtain. Applications to change bylaws or board members would no longer need notarization. Permits and conditions for public events are to be simplified. Nonprofit associations would be freed from the duty to appoint a data protection officer.

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 platform invokes the principle of Konnexität (whoever orders pays), especially when federal laws cause extra costs or lower revenue for states and municipalities. Mixed financing is to be reduced, and states are to disclose how they used federal money. The EU subsidiarity check is to be strengthened and a similar check introduced nationally. The federal and state governments are to work with municipalities to halt the rise in social spending. Federal funding programs are to be merged and bundled on an online platform. For rural areas, the joint federal-state program for regional economic structure remains the main tool, and local officeholders are to be better protected.

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 platform supports a smaller Bundestag. It rejects, however, any loss of weight for the direct mandate. The electoral law should also give more regard to the federal structure of the country. The parties aim for a reform along these lines.

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.

At least a tenth of positions in the ministerial and Bundestag administrations are to go. Under the once-only principle, citizens and companies would give their data to the administration just one time; a basic register and a single account for companies are part of this. Laws are to be geared to the standard case rather than the exception. An experimentation clause is to allow trials with little red tape. Adopted measures are to be evaluated and withdrawn if they do not work.

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.

Fast-track rules from one field are to be extended to transport, construction and digital infrastructure. Deemed approval is to apply, meaning an application counts as granted if the authority does not decide in time. Preclusion, the exclusion of objections raised too late, is to play a larger role. In the short term, the parties want to examine where German law goes beyond the European directive on association lawsuits. Where sensible, legal recourse is to be limited to two court levels. The formal plan approval procedure for major projects is to become more efficient through a procedural roadmap, a cutoff date and digitization, among other things.