CDU on democracy and the state

The CDU wants a democracy clause to ensure that organizations opposed to the constitutional order or holding hostile views toward groups of people receive no public funding. Anti-constitutional associations would lose charitable tax status, and public employees would be checked for loyalty to the constitution.

The CDU wants state money only for groups that support the constitution. A rule should make sure of this. Hostile groups should lose tax benefits. Public employees should be checked. They must support democracy.

A legally sound democracy clause would exclude funding for groups that oppose the free democratic basic order or hold misanthropic positions. Associations with proven anti-constitutional aims would lose their charitable status. Tax offices would get the legal basis for this and cooperate with the domestic intelligence agency. A constitutional loyalty check would be introduced in the public service.

The CDU wants to define the tasks of student governments more precisely in the higher education law and focus them on study-related matters. Mandatory fees are only to be collected if voter turnout is sufficient. The CDU justifies this by saying some bodies are used for extremist agitation.

Students elect their own councils at universities. These councils get money from required fees. The CDU wants to limit what they do. They should focus on studying. They should only get money if enough students vote.

The program cites cases of antisemitism and anti-constitutional positions in some bodies. The powers of student governments are to be spelled out in the Berlin Higher Education Act. Linking mandatory fees to adequate turnout is meant, in the CDU's view, to increase accountability and transparency.

The CDU wants to significantly scale back Berlin state laws that go further than federal or EU law. It cites the state anti-discrimination law, the public procurement law and the law on freedom of assembly as examples.

Berlin has its own laws. Some go further than federal or EU rules. The CDU thinks this creates too much red tape. It wants to cut these rules a lot. Examples are laws against discrimination and on protests.

Berlin's special paths in state law are to be critically reviewed. According to the program, these include the Landesantidiskriminierungsgesetz (state anti-discrimination law), the Berlin tendering and procurement law and the Versammlungsfreiheitsgesetz (assembly law). The CDU justifies this with the extra bureaucracy they cause. In principle, it says, repealing rules should outweigh creating new ones.

The CDU wants to continue the administrative reform and remove overlapping responsibilities and what it sees as unnecessary bureaucracy. Participation formats, advisory boards, commissioners and parliamentary reporting duties are also to be reviewed and simplified.

In Berlin, several offices often handle the same task. The CDU wants to change that. Each task should have one clear owner. Many committees and special officers will also be reviewed. This should make the administration faster.

As examples of overlap, the program names multiple bodies handling discrimination complaints, data protection officers at every agency, and three-tier monument protection. Round tables, task forces and steering groups are to be reviewed so decisions are made in regular structures. Parliamentary reporting duties are to be checked for workload without curbing oversight rights, including by comparison with other states. Participation formats, advisory boards, the commissioner system and the effects of the staff representation law are to be put under review.

The CDU wants adequate and reliable funding for Berlin's districts, which it sees as the backbone of citizen-oriented administration. The basis is the state's connexity implementation law, and a similar rule should apply in relations with the federal government.

Berlin has twelve districts. They work close to the people. The CDU wants to give them enough money, reliably. Whoever hands over a task should pay for it. This should also apply between the federal and state levels.

The CDU sees implementing the administrative reform, including the state organization law, constitutional amendments, the connexity law and the task catalog, as an ongoing job. Connexity means that the level assigning a task also funds it. The CDU wants to push for anchoring such a principle in relations with the federal level as well.

The CDU wants more internal competition and new incentives within the administration. An annual performance contest with goals, metrics, public awards and bonuses is to be introduced.

The CDU wants a contest inside the administration. Each year there are set goals. Offices are measured on how well they reach them. The best teams win an award. Their leaders and teams also get a cash bonus.

Each year the Senate is to set one main goal with measurable indicators for each policy and cross-cutting area. The program cites examples such as new business locations, the length of road closures for construction and processing times for building permits. At year's end, the top three units for each goal are to be publicly honored. Their heads and teams are to receive a personal performance bonus, and the Senate departments are to document and evaluate the results.

The CDU aims to reduce positions in all Senate departments by at least 2 percent a year and to deploy staff more flexibly. Instead of new positions, task reviews, merging functions and artificial intelligence are to ease the workload.

The CDU wants fewer jobs in the Senate departments. Each year, at least 2 percent should go. Staff should be used more flexibly. There should be fewer special officers. AI programs should help with routine work.

Re-advertising a position with an unchanged profile is to require special justification. Leadership positions are to be filled only for limited terms, and staff are to be deployable temporarily across agencies, with civil service, career and staff representation law adjusted accordingly. Roles such as data protection, IT security and occupational safety officers and internal audit are to be merged, the commissioner system sharply reduced and the number of state secretaries cut. Ministerial staff units are to be cut to the bare minimum, and the Senate department responsible for personnel strengthened.

The CDU wants to introduce central talent management for Berlin's administration and continue efforts to recruit skilled staff. Civil servant pay is to be restructured and kept in line with that of salaried public employees.

The CDU wants to find and support good people for the administration. A central unit should do this. Career changers should find it easier to start. Civil servants should earn as much as other public employees. Pay raises should also apply to civil servants.

The Personnel Development Program 2030 is to continue, with good conditions for career changers and modern work forms such as flexible hours and remote work. Cross-departmental talent management is to systematically prepare candidates for leadership and key positions, supported by the Berlin Administrative Academy. Collectively bargained pay raises are to be passed on to civil servants. The department in charge of state personnel and the hiring authority are to be merged.

The CDU wants to make volunteering more attractive, for instance through help with travel costs and free use of rooms. It sees volunteer work as a pillar of community life in Berlin.

Many people help others for free. This is called volunteering. The CDU wants to support these people more. They should get easier access to buses and trains. They should use rooms for free.

Easier access to public transit for volunteers is to be examined, along with discounts from private partners for holders of the volunteer card. District volunteer agencies are to be kept, a merger of the state volunteer agency with the state network for civic engagement is to be examined, and the learning center is to be expanded. A legal change is to make district and state-owned spaces free to use, and electronic locking systems are to be rolled out. Age limits for public honorary posts such as lay judges or arbitrators are to be reviewed and raised where sensible.

The CDU wants to fund projects that teach democratic values and strengthen social cohesion. Funded organizations are to clearly commit to the Basic Law (Germany's constitution) and oppose extremism and antisemitism. The impact of projects is to be measured more closely.

The CDU wants to support projects for democracy. These projects should bring people together. Anyone who gets money must support the Basic Law. That is Germany's constitution. The projects must also stand against hate and antisemitism.

The reasoning is that, in the CDU's view, an increasingly diverse society needs shared values. Funding requires a clear commitment to the Basic Law and active opposition to extremism, antisemitism and group-focused enmity. The effectiveness of individual projects is to be tracked. Funding is then to be targeted at those contributing most to cohesion.