CDU on democracy and the state

The CDU wants to review the tasks and structures of the state administration comprehensively and draw up a target organization called "Niedersächsische Verwaltung 2030" (Lower Saxony Administration 2030). Tasks it considers dispensable are to be dropped. The background is that almost 30 percent of staff will retire over the next ten years.

The CDU wants to rebuild the state's administration. It wants to check which tasks are needed. Tasks that are not needed will be dropped. The reason: almost 30 percent of staff will retire within ten years. The administration should still work well.

Staff capacity that becomes free is to be used mainly for digitalization and climate protection. For future-oriented tasks, the budget separation between material and personnel funds is to be lifted. All state agencies are to get a decision-management system aimed at fast and reliable decisions. A pool of highly qualified project managers is to steer important processes and major permit procedures. The state construction management is to act more as the client and preferably award planning work to private firms.

The CDU wants to fully enforce the Konnexitätsprinzip, the principle that whoever assigns tasks to municipalities must pay for them. Funding programs for municipalities are to become simpler and clearer. The platform argues that legal entitlements, benefit laws and complex funding programs increasingly restrict municipalities.

The CDU wants to strengthen towns and cities. Whoever gives towns new tasks should also pay for them. Funding programs should become simpler. Awarding public contracts should become easier too.

As examples of burdens, the platform names the legal entitlements to a daycare place and to all-day programs at elementary schools. Funding programs are to become easier to apply again; the programs KIP1 and KIP2 are cited as models. Procurement procedures are to be simplified permanently. Municipalities are to get funding without red tape and gain more leeway, while the state limits its funding programs to what is necessary.

The CDU wants to extend the term of full-time mayors and county heads to eight years to ensure continuity at the top of local administrations. It also wants to ease the burden on local council members and help municipalities recruit staff.

Mayors and county heads should stay in office for eight years. The CDU says local offices need steady leadership. Council members should be able to join meetings by video more often. Towns should get help finding staff.

Besides the longer term, the CDU wants to widen the legal options for hybrid meetings of local bodies. At the federal level, it will push for a broader exemption from taxes and social contributions for the expense allowances of council members. The state is also to train more administrative staff.

The CDU wants the injustices of the East German SED regime to be examined further in Lower Saxony as well, and wants the state to do more for the victims. It argues that many of those affected still suffer from the effects of imprisonment, flight and repression.

The East German state treated many people unjustly. Many still suffer from this today. The CDU wants to help these people more. It wants the injustice to be studied further.

The state is to step up its efforts for victims. According to the program, the reckoning also includes possible ties between members of the Lower Saxony state parliament and the East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi). In addition, academic research on the history of East Germany is to receive funding.

The CDU wants to give volunteers better legal protection and reduce administrative work for associations. A framework contract between the state and an insurer is to cover liability and legal risks. Advice, training and volunteer agencies are also to be expanded across the state.

The CDU wants to protect volunteers better. The state should buy insurance for them. Clubs should have less paperwork. There should be offices everywhere that give advice on volunteering.

The framework contract is to include financial liability, legal expenses and event organizer liability insurance. Entries in the register of associations are to be transferred automatically to the transparency register, and associations are to get relief on data protection rules plus more help from the state data protection commissioner. Funding applications are to be handled digitally and faster, with grants also paid out provisionally. The educational leave law is to be reviewed and changed in favor of volunteering, and the CDU calls on the federal government for further tax benefits. Also planned are more training courses, statewide volunteer agencies and coordination offices, and a collection of ideas on the FreiwilligenServer portal. The party builds on recommendations by the state parliament's study commission.

The CDU wants to expand the Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card) and merge it with the sports volunteer card. Holders are to get a bonus on local public transport. Volunteer work is also to count toward the waiting time for a university place.

The volunteer card gives benefits to people who volunteer. The CDU wants to improve this card. There should be just one card for everyone. The card should make buses and trains cheaper. Volunteering should also help when waiting for a university place.

Credit toward the waiting time is to be graded by how long and how intensively someone volunteered. Subject-related skills gained through volunteering that fit the degree are to be recognized as credit points in bachelor's programs. In the future, the card is also to be obtainable at schools. The single system is meant to let all volunteers use the benefits.

The CDU wants to strengthen the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung (state agency for civic education) and give it more presence across the state. People in volunteer political roles are to keep receiving support and be protected from attacks. The platform points to threats to freedom and democracy from authoritarian trends in many countries.

The CDU wants more civic education in Lower Saxony. The state agency for it should get stronger and work in more places. There should be apps and suitable information for children and teens. People who volunteer in politics should be protected from attacks.

The agency is to work more closely with adult education providers and get help developing digital apps for children and teenagers. The state administration's websites are to offer more child- and youth-friendly information about the work of the state government. The CDU wants to continue supporting and recognizing volunteer political work. Volunteers are to be protected from verbal and physical attacks by opponents of the constitution. The platform regards civic education, media literacy and the fight against extremism as tasks of a society able to defend itself.