CDU: program for the 2022 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

The CDU wants North Rhine-Westphalia to remain an industrial state and to keep the existing relief rules for energy-intensive companies. In the party's view, industry should contribute to climate protection through new technology rather than move abroad.

The CDU wants to keep industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. Some companies need a lot of energy. Today they get relief on their costs. The CDU wants to keep this relief. Research should help factories emit less CO2.

The CDU wants to draw up a state strategy for a circular economy. It also wants the economy to become more crisis-proof and less dependent on fragile international supply chains.

The CDU wants a plan for a circular economy. That means raw materials get used more than once. The state then needs fewer new raw materials. Supply routes from abroad should also become safer.

The CDU wants to scrap two old rules for every new one. Permitting and planning procedures should become the fastest in Germany, and public tenders should be simpler.

The CDU wants less red tape. For every new rule, two old rules should go. Permits should be faster than anywhere else in Germany. Getting contracts from the state should also be easier.

The CDU wants to launch a skilled-worker drive for the skilled trades and strengthen dual vocational training. Those who complete master craftsman training are to receive a bonus of 3,000 euros.

The CDU wants more skilled workers for the trades. Training in companies and schools should get stronger. People who become master craftsmen should get 3,000 euros. Women who want to become masters should get special support.

The CDU wants to expand funding programs for digitalization and innovation in small and midsize companies. The skilled trades are to get investment incentives for digital equipment, and university spin-offs are to receive more support.

Small and midsize companies should get more help with going digital. The trades should get incentives to invest in digital technology. The CDU also wants to give more support to new companies that come out of universities.

The CDU wants to support energy-intensive companies in shifting to climate-neutral production and calls for federal help to do so. In the Rhenish coal region, existing jobs are to be kept and new ones created.

Many companies must change how they produce to protect the climate. The CDU wants to help them. The federal government should give money too. Coal mining is ending in the Rhenish region. Jobs there should stay, and new ones should come.

The CDU wants to make tourism in North Rhine-Westphalia a leader in sustainability. It plans a quality label with a funding program, a shared digital platform and a tourism app.

The CDU wants vacations in North Rhine-Westphalia to be easy on the environment. There should be a new label for that. It is called "Nachhaltig NRW!" (Sustainable NRW). A funding program comes with it. The CDU also plans an app for tourists.

The CDU wants to preserve savings banks, public-sector banks and cooperative banks as lenders to small and mid-sized businesses. Banking regulation is to be tiered by size because, in the party's view, European rules do not suit small institutions.

The CDU wants to keep savings banks and cooperative banks. These banks lend money to small companies. The CDU thinks small banks face too many rules. Small banks should have fewer rules than big ones. Their own safety systems should be enough.

The CDU wants to give stronger support to people founding companies in North Rhine-Westphalia and to attract more venture capital. Young companies should be able to grow faster and stay in the state once they have grown.

The CDU wants to help new companies. These companies are called start-ups. They should get more money from investors. They should stay in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU wants to redo the state development plan and give municipalities clear, simple guidelines. Land for commerce and industry should be easier to designate, and designating new land should remain possible. New business areas are to be developed as climate-protection zones with as close to zero CO2 emissions as possible.

A plan says where building is allowed in the state. The CDU wants to make this plan new. Towns should get land for businesses more easily. New business areas should protect the climate.

The CDU wants to expand the state initiative for downtown areas and continue the support measures begun during the COVID-19 pandemic. Changing the use of buildings is to become easier so that city centers offer a mix of shopping, housing, culture, crafts and restaurants.

The CDU wants to strengthen downtown areas. They should have shops, homes, culture and restaurants. Empty buildings should be easier to use in new ways. A digital list should record empty shops.

The CDU wants to cement North Rhine-Westphalia as a leading location for video games and in the future also fund game production. Esports is to become more professional and be treated like sports under tax law.

The CDU wants to strengthen the video game industry. The state should also support the making of games. Esports should be treated like other sports. Esports means: people compete against each other in video games.

The CDU wants as many businesses as possible to be covered by collective agreements and considers strong works councils and staff councils indispensable. In the platform's view, collective bargaining coverage ensures fair competition, peace in the workplace and good working conditions.

The CDU wants many companies to pay by collective agreement. That is a contract on pay and working hours. Works councils should be strong. No one may block the election of a works council.

The CDU wants to bring as many long-term unemployed people as possible into regular employment. Young people without work in particular are to find their way into working life by catching up on qualifications.

Some people have been out of work for years. The CDU wants to help them get a regular job. Young people above all should be able to catch up on qualifications. Simple programs should give them a steady daily routine.

The CDU wants to strengthen the state's occupational safety administration and have five percent of businesses inspected each year. Inspections are to focus on places with precarious employment. In the platform's view, exploitative working arrangements have no place in society.

The state should inspect companies more often. Each year, five out of a hundred companies should be checked. Inspectors should look mostly at insecure jobs. Workers should also get more advice.

The CDU wants to give people with disabilities more opportunities to participate, above all through training and work in the regular labor market. Inclusion companies are to receive more funding, and the state civil service is to lead by example in hiring.

People with disabilities should be able to take part everywhere. The CDU wants to get them more regular jobs. The state itself should hire more of them. More of them should be able to live on their own.

The CDU wants to reduce homelessness and child poverty and continue state programs for that purpose. Regarding the federal government's planned Bürgergeld (citizen's income), it wants to insist that support remains tied to recipients' cooperation. At the same time, standard benefit rates are to be adjusted to the higher cost of living.

The CDU wants to help people without a home. Poor children should also get more help. People who get money from the state should still have to do their part. The money should go up because food and energy cost more.

The CDU wants to reduce child poverty mainly by getting unemployed parents into jobs. It plans an agenda titled "No Child in Poverty – For Parents in Work." In the platform's view, children are poor when their parents have no work.

The CDU says children are poor when their parents have no job. So it wants to get parents into work. It wants to reach out to these parents and support them. It will pay special attention to single parents. The same goes for children with disabilities.

The CDU regards the pay-as-you-go statutory pension as the most important pillar of retirement security and wants to develop it further in light of demographic change. Occupational and private retirement provision are to be strengthened alongside it. The party plans to bring its own initiatives to the federal level.

The CDU wants to keep the public pension and adapt it. People who worked for a long time should get more than others. More workers should have a company pension. Private saving for old age should also get easier.

The CDU wants to push at the federal level for caring for relatives at home to count more toward pensions. People who have provided care for a long time should not end up poor in old age. The platform notes that women in particular provide care and that their careers suffer as a result.

Many people care for relatives at home. Often these are women. They work less and later get a smaller pension. The CDU wants to change that. Care at home should count more for the pension.

The CDU commits to the debt brake and to a budget without new borrowing. After the crisis, the state is to return to normal budget policy and reduce its COVID-related debt. The party justifies this with responsibility toward future generations.

The CDU does not want to take on new debt. It sticks to the debt brake. That is a rule that tightly limits new debt. In good times, the CDU wants to set money aside. It wants to pay back the debt from the COVID period.

The CDU wants to free clubs and volunteers from administrative burdens and improve their tax treatment. Reporting duties are to be cut to what is necessary. Plans include tax-deductible membership fees, a higher tax-free allowance for instructors and a higher sales tax threshold.

Clubs have a lot of paperwork. The CDU wants to make this easier. Forms should be easy for everyone to understand. Clubs and volunteers should pay less tax. For example, people should be able to deduct membership fees from their taxes.

The CDU wants to help reduce the short-term cash loans weighing on municipalities and says this requires a nationwide debt relief plan. It also wants to take stock of state compensation payments to municipalities and further develop municipal financing and the local business tax.

Many towns and cities have high debts. The CDU wants to help lower these debts. It wants a plan for all of Germany. The rules for local money should also change.

The CDU wants to abolish the obligation for municipalities to levy road improvement charges. This is to be done in a way that does not trigger compensation claims by municipalities against the state.

When a street is renewed, nearby owners often have to pay part of it. Towns must ask for this money today. The CDU wants to end this duty.

The CDU wants to set up a statewide building program for municipal facilities through NRW.BANK, the state's development bank. At the same time, many separate funding programs are to be bundled so that municipalities can build and renovate according to actual need.

Many town buildings are old. The CDU wants a building program for schools, town halls, fire stations and sports sites. The money should come through the state's bank. Many small funding programs should become a few.

The CDU wants to make it easier for families to buy a home they live in themselves. First-time purchases are to benefit from an allowance on the Grunderwerbsteuer (property transfer tax), which would require the federal government to grant the states an opt-out clause. A state-level child-related homebuyer grant and rent-to-own models are also planned.

People who buy a house or apartment pay a tax. The CDU wants to cut this tax for a first home of your own. Part of the price should be tax-free. The federal government must change a law first.

The CDU wants more construction, more publicly subsidized apartments with regulated rents and more land designated for building. The platform names the shortage of buildable plots as the biggest obstacle. Tenant protection is also to be developed further.

The CDU wants more homes to be built. There should be more apartments with fixed, low rents. Cities and towns should find it easier to provide building land. Renters should stay protected.

The CDU wants to make construction faster, cheaper and more climate-friendly through new methods such as serial and modular building and 3D printing. Planning and permitting procedures are to become digital and shorter. To meet CO2 targets, the focus is to be on renovating buildings with high energy demand.

The CDU wants building to be faster and cheaper. New methods like 3D printing should help. Houses should use less energy. Permits should be digital and come faster.

The CDU wants to anchor child protection more firmly in research, training, and practice. It plans professorships for child protection, mandatory continuing education in youth welfare, and an expansion of child protection outpatient clinics. The platform sees well-trained professionals as the core of effective child protection.

The CDU wants to protect children better. Professionals should learn more for this. Universities should have their own professors for child protection. There should be more clinics for child protection.

The CDU wants to make North Rhine-Westphalia the most family- and child-friendly German state. An action plan is meant to make starting a family easier, family centers are to be expanded, and large families are to get relief through a family card.

The CDU wants to help families more. It will write an action plan for that. Families with many children should get a family card. It makes visits to museums or zoos easier. Playgrounds and small soccer fields should be repaired.

The CDU wants to maintain pregnancy conflict counseling in the state. Pregnant women should receive help rather than blame and learn how life with a child can work. According to the platform, this also serves the unborn child.

Some women are pregnant and do not know what to do. There is counseling for them. The CDU wants to keep this counseling. Women should get help, not blame. The services should be easier to find.

The CDU wants to waive parental fees for the third Kita (daycare/preschool) year before school entry as well. Care for children over three would then be entirely free of fees. The platform cites the importance of early education and financial relief for parents.

Parents often pay fees for preschool. The CDU wants to change that. The third year before school should also be free. Then preschool is free for all children over three. Parents keep more money.

The CDU wants to continue its guarantee for expanding Kita (daycare) places and set up a system for recruiting skilled staff. Educators are to be relieved of administrative work. Digital place allocation is meant to give parents more planning certainty.

The CDU wants more places in daycare centers. It wants to find more trained staff. Staff should have less office work. Parents should be able to book places online more easily.

The CDU wants to expand the state's Kinder- und Jugendförderplan (child and youth funding plan) and keep the automatic annual funding adjustment. New priorities are to include inclusion, catching up after the COVID-19 pandemic, and mental health. An action plan is to set rules for youth participation.

The state pays for programs for children and young people. The CDU wants to keep raising this money. There should be more programs for young people with disabilities. There should be money for vacation camps. Young people should have more say.

The CDU wants to make North Rhine-Westphalia the leading state for vocational training, working with business, the social partners and the chambers. For workers hit especially hard by structural change, it plans a drive for further and continuing education.

The CDU wants to strengthen job training in companies. It should count as much as a university degree. Workers should find it easier to learn new skills. This matters most where the economy is changing a lot.

The CDU wants to retain the tiered school system with its different school types and to keep special-needs schools (Förderschulen), expanding them as needed. At the same time, teachers at mainstream schools are to get more help with inclusive teaching. In the platform's view, this variety secures freedom of choice and nurtures different talents.

North Rhine-Westphalia has different types of schools. The CDU wants to keep it that way. Special-needs schools should also stay. Children who need support should also be able to learn at regular schools. Teachers there should get more help.

The CDU wants to turn all schools in socially difficult settings into Talentschulen (talent schools). These are to receive more staff and better facilities. Teachers there are to get extra pay for outstanding performance.

Some schools have many children in difficult circumstances. The CDU wants to make all of these schools talent schools. Talent schools get more teachers and better buildings. Teachers there should get extra pay for special achievements.

The CDU wants to make leading a school more attractive. Principals are to teach fewer classes and get help from administrative specialists. The platform wants stronger management skills at the top of schools.

Schools need good principals. The CDU wants to make this job more attractive. Principals should have to teach fewer classes. Administrative staff should help them. This should make schools run better.

The CDU wants to expand digital learning in regular classroom teaching and give every child a digital device. Digital methods are meant to supplement lessons, not replace them. School authorities would receive a flat-rate digital grant.

The CDU wants more digital learning at school. Every child should get a device, such as a tablet. Normal classroom teaching should stay. Towns and cities should get money for the technology.

The CDU wants to strengthen teaching in math, computer science, natural sciences and technology (STEM). Computer science is to be expanded and become a subject for the Abitur (university entrance exam). More STEM teachers are to be trained.

The CDU wants more teaching in STEM subjects. STEM means math, computer science, science and technology. Computer science should become a subject in the final school exam. There should be more teachers for these subjects.

The CDU wants to turn more primary schools into family centers and keep expanding the Offener Ganztag (voluntary all-day school program). It welcomes the legal right to an all-day place from 2026 but insists the federal government contribute permanently to the costs. The aim is to make it easier to combine family and work.

The CDU wants more all-day places at primary schools. From 2026, children have a right to such a place. The federal government should help pay for this for good. Primary schools should also become places where families get advice.

The CDU wants to hire another 10,000 teachers within five years. Pay for primary and lower secondary teachers is to be aligned with that of upper secondary teachers. Multi-professional teams are to relieve teachers of other tasks.

The CDU wants to hire 10,000 new teachers. This should happen within five years. Primary school teachers should get better pay. Other experts should help at schools, such as social workers.

The CDU wants to review and reform the state's teacher training law. Future primary school teachers would study two compulsory subjects instead of three. Professional development for teachers is to be expanded, especially on digital topics.

The CDU wants to change how teachers are trained. People who want to teach at primary schools should study only two subjects. Today they study three. There should also be more training courses for working teachers.

The CDU stands by denominational religious education taught in German under German school supervision. It wants to support an Islamic theology faculty in Münster. In the long run, imams and teachers of Islamic religion are to be trained in German in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU wants to keep religious education at schools. It should be taught in German. The state should supervise it. A faculty for Islamic theology should be built up in Münster. In the future, imams should be trained in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU regards vocational and academic education as equal in value and wants to strengthen dual vocational training (combined company and school training). Lower secondary school qualifications are to be geared more toward vocational training. Vocational schools are to get more staff and modernized buildings.

The CDU wants to strengthen job training. More young people should train in a company. Students should do internships in businesses. Vocational schools should get more teachers and better buildings.

The CDU wants to reorganize school funding together with the municipal umbrella associations. The first step is a stocktaking of how schools are funded today. The program argues that responsibilities need to be adjusted to growing demands.

The state and local governments pay for schools together. The CDU wants to set better rules for this. First it wants to check how things work today. It wants to do this with the associations of towns and cities.

The CDU wants to further strengthen adult education centers and independent continuing education providers. Second-chance education is to be expanded so that people can earn school diplomas later in life. Those who failed at school should thereby gain opportunities for participation and advancement.

The CDU wants to strengthen education for adults. People should be able to earn school diplomas later in life. There should be more courses in reading and writing. Older people should also get more courses.

The CDU wants to spend twice as much on cultural education and expand offerings for all age groups, from daycare to seniors. Music schools are to get more state money and thus more permanent positions.

The CDU wants to spend twice as much on cultural education. That means, for example, learning music, dance and art. There should be offers for children and adults. Music schools should get more permanent teachers.

The CDU wants all children to be able to swim safely by the end of sixth grade. It points to the growing number of children and teenagers who cannot swim.

The CDU wants every child to be able to swim. This should be the case by the end of sixth grade at the latest. There should be more swimming teachers. More pools for practice are also planned.

The CDU wants to increase state funding for better teaching at universities. Digital teaching formats are to be combined permanently with in-person teaching, while universities are to remain in-person institutions.

The CDU wants to give more money for teaching at universities. Students should still learn on campus. Digital offers should be added. Both together are called hybrid teaching.

The CDU declares the debate over tuition fees closed. It pledges not to reintroduce such fees in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Studying in North Rhine-Westphalia costs no tuition fees. The CDU wants it to stay that way. It does not want to bring tuition fees back.

The CDU wants to press the federal government to reform BAföG (federal student aid) so that parents' income plays a smaller role. At the same time, better advising and targeted talent support are meant to help more young people finish their degrees.

BAföG is money from the state for students. Today it depends a lot on what the parents earn. The CDU wants to change that. It also wants to make advice for students better.

The CDU wants to expand top-level research and its institutions so that North Rhine-Westphalia ranks among the leading science locations in Germany. A new innovation fund with an additional 100 million euros is meant to kick-start new scientific priorities.

The CDU wants to strengthen research in the state. There should be a new fund for this. A fund is a pot of money. The pot should hold 100 million euros.

The CDU wants to continue digitizing universities and offer one uniform campus app for the whole state. It is to serve as a digital student ID and bundle services of everyday university life.

The CDU wants one app for all students in the state. The app should be the student ID. Students should be able to pay in the cafeteria with it. The ticket for buses and trains should also be in the app.

The CDU wants to keep reducing the investment backlog at universities and launch a renovation program for that purpose. In addition, more affordable housing for students is to be created.

Many university buildings are old. The CDU wants to repair and renew them. It also wants to create more low-cost housing for students.

The CDU wants to make the routine pediatric checkups (U-Untersuchungen) mandatory. Regular doctor visits are meant to help detect early signs of violence. The CDU also wants to expand therapy services designed to keep people from becoming offenders.

Children go to regular checkups at the doctor. The CDU wants all children to have to take part. Doctors should then notice early if a child suffers violence. There should also be more therapy for possible offenders.

The CDU wants to continue the Landarztquote (rural doctor quota) and award more medical school places through it. Those who receive such a place then work as general practitioners in a region short of doctors. People in rural areas are to have care close to home just as city residents do.

There are too few doctors in rural areas. So the CDU wants to expand the rural doctor quota. This means some places in medical school are reserved. People who get such a place later work as family doctors in the countryside.

The CDU wants to continue reforming hospital planning. Basic and emergency care, obstetrics, and pediatric medicine are to be available close to home everywhere, while complicated procedures are to be handled by specialized hospitals. In the party's view, the market alone must not decide on locations and services.

The CDU wants to keep changing how hospitals are planned. Everywhere, a hospital for emergencies and births should be nearby. Experts in special clinics should do difficult operations. Midwives should get better working conditions.

The CDU wants to give hospitals an additional 2.5 billion euros over five years for modernization. It counts hospitals as part of the state's core infrastructure. At the federal level, it wants to reform the system of flat-rate payments per case.

The CDU wants to give hospitals more money. Over five years, it should be 2.5 billion euros extra. This should improve buildings and technology. The way hospitals are paid per case should also change. Today they get a fixed amount for each treatment.

The CDU wants to extend the Virtual Hospital to more medical conditions and to every hospital in the state. The tele-emergency doctor system is also to be rolled out statewide. The aim is to make the expertise of university hospitals available to hospitals outside the big cities.

The CDU wants more medicine over the internet. Doctors at big hospitals should advise small hospitals by video. This is called the Virtual Hospital. All hospitals in the state should take part. Emergency doctors should also be able to help by video everywhere.

The CDU wants to expand portal practices at hospitals and introduce a single reception desk or a uniform initial assessment procedure. Patients are meant to reach the right place of treatment faster. This is intended to ease the load on emergency rooms and hospital outpatient departments.

Many people go straight to the emergency room. The CDU wants to change that. Staff at the front desk should check where a patient belongs. Then the patient gets to the right doctor quickly. Emergency rooms should be less crowded.

The CDU wants to increase funding for medical research and modernize the university hospitals. In the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region, a university hospital is to be created with an investment of one billion euros. Cancer care based on the latest research is to be available close to home.

The CDU wants to spend more on medical research. The big university hospitals should get modern equipment. A new university hospital is planned for the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. The CDU plans one billion euros for it. Cancer patients should find good treatment near their home.

The CDU wants to build up the public health service and revise the state law that governs it. It points to the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason. Statewide crisis management structures are planned.

Local health offices are part of the public health service. The CDU wants to make this service stronger. The law for it should be rewritten. The state should be better prepared for a crisis. The CDU says the COVID-19 period showed this.

The CDU wants to do more for relatives who provide care at home. It seeks a care leave modeled on parental leave and wants to launch a federal initiative for a care allowance that replaces lost wages. People in need of care should be able to live as independently as possible.

Many people care for family members at home. The CDU wants to help them. They should get care leave, similar to parental leave. During that time they should get money to replace their pay. The CDU wants to push for this at the federal level.

The CDU wants to recruit more nursing staff, including from abroad. New nurses are to receive a one-time welcome bonus of up to 3,000 euros. Over time, this is meant to bring in up to 10,000 additional nurses a year.

There are not enough nurses. The CDU wants to bring in more, also from other countries. New nurses should get up to 3,000 euros once. This should bring up to 10,000 new nurses each year. They should stay in the state for good.

The CDU wants to improve training and working conditions in nursing. University and training places are to grow, and all nursing staff are to be paid under collective agreements. The platform sees this as the key to having enough qualified staff.

The CDU wants more young people to work in nursing. There should be more places for training and study. All nurses should get pay set by a collective agreement. That is a fixed contract on wages. A voluntary year in nursing should also be more rewarding.

The CDU supports the establishment of the nursing chamber in North Rhine-Westphalia as a professional body. It also favors a nursing chamber at the federal level. Other health professions are to get a stronger voice in state bodies.

A nursing chamber speaks for nurses. One is being set up in North Rhine-Westphalia. The CDU supports this. It also wants a nursing chamber for all of Germany. Other health professions should get more say too.

The CDU commits to the career civil service with its pensions, salary and Beihilfe (state health cost aid for civil servants). It rejects a flat-rate Beihilfe and a compulsory single insurance; the coexistence of statutory and private health insurance is to remain.

Civil servants get state help with medical costs. This is called Beihilfe. The CDU wants to keep this system. It is against one single insurance for everyone.

The CDU describes immigration as a benefit for North Rhine-Westphalia and welcomes newcomers. It promises municipalities continued support in taking in refugees, while saying it will not act "naively."

The CDU says immigration is good for the state. People from all over the world are welcome. Cities and towns take in refugees. The state should keep helping them. People who live here should follow the laws and values.

The CDU wants to quickly expel Islamist hate preachers, individuals deemed a security threat, and criminal offenders. All options under immigration and citizenship law are to be used for this.

Some foreigners are a danger to public safety. The CDU wants to remove them from the country quickly. This applies to Islamist hate preachers and offenders. The CDU wants to use all available laws for this.

The CDU wants to attract skilled workers from around the world to North Rhine-Westphalia with a campaign called 'Neue Chancen NRW' (New Opportunities NRW). Foreign vocational qualifications are to be recognized faster and with less red tape. The platform views immigrants as skilled workers who secure economic and social stability.

The CDU wants to bring skilled workers from all over the world to the state. It plans an advertising campaign for this. Foreign job qualifications should be accepted faster. An office in Bonn should help more with this.

The CDU wants to offer protection in North Rhine-Westphalia to people fleeing the war in Ukraine. They are to receive housing, support, medical care and schooling.

The CDU wants to help people from Ukraine. They are fleeing the war. They should get a place to stay and medical help. The children should be able to go to school. Cities and towns will get support from the state.

The CDU wants to continue support services for LGBTIQ* people and rejects hate violence against different ways of life. It wants to examine funding for small, non-commercial Christopher Street Day events. Anti-discrimination work in the public service is to be expanded.

People love and live in different ways. The CDU wants everyone to live without fear. It wants to keep paying for services for queer people. It will look at money for small pride events. There should be less unfair treatment in public offices.

The CDU wants to make it easier to combine family and work and to help women return to their careers after starting a family. Childcare places, training, mentoring, and networks are meant to contribute. A pay atlas is to make differences in pay visible.

Women should have the same chances at work as men. The CDU wants enough childcare places. Women should return to work more easily after family time. A pay atlas should show where women earn less. More women should work in technical jobs.

The CDU wants to present a strategy for equal career opportunity in the state administration. Part of it is a quota for executive board positions in state-owned enterprises. The state equality act is also to be further developed.

In some parts of the state administration, few women or few men work. The CDU wants to change that. A quota should apply to top jobs in state-owned companies. A quota is a fixed minimum share. The state equality law should also be improved.

The CDU commits to the Istanbul Convention and wants to expand and securely fund support services for victims of violence. A statewide pact against violence is to be concluded with associations. Help for affected men is also to grow.

No one should have to suffer violence. The CDU wants more help for victims of violence. This applies to women and to men. Victims should be able to have evidence secured without giving their name. The state should make a pact against violence with associations.

The CDU wants to close the pay gap between women and men in academia and promote diversity at universities. Early-career researchers are to get more opportunities.

Women and men should earn the same at universities. The CDU wants to support diversity at universities. Young researchers should get better chances.

The CDU commits to the Paris climate goals and wants North Rhine-Westphalia to be climate neutral by 2045 at the latest. Climate action is to be reconciled with industry, jobs and social security, and should remain affordable for people.

The CDU wants to protect the climate. The state should be climate neutral by 2045. That means it adds no more harmful gases. Industry and its jobs should stay. Climate action should stay affordable for people.

The CDU calls on the federal government for an energy price brake so that energy stays affordable for households and businesses. Several energy taxes are to fall, and the housing benefit and commuter allowance are to rise.

Energy has become expensive. The CDU wants the federal government to slow the prices. Taxes on heating, electricity and fuel should go down. The housing benefit should rise for good. Commuters should be able to deduct more from their taxes.

The CDU wants to exit coal by 2030, provided the federal government ensures secure supply and stable prices. Gas is to serve as a bridging technology, and the state is to become independent of Russian energy imports quickly.

The CDU wants to stop burning coal by 2030. For that, the federal government must make sure there is enough energy. Prices must stay stable too. For a transition period, the CDU wants to use gas. The state should no longer need energy from Russia.

The CDU wants to speed up the expansion of wind energy and photovoltaics. To that end, residents are to share financially, protected interests are to be rebalanced, and owners of small solar systems are to be relieved of taxes and paperwork.

The CDU wants more wind turbines and solar panels. Building them should go faster. People living nearby should be able to earn money from wind turbines. Owners of small solar systems should pay no taxes on what they earn.

The CDU wants to make North Rhine-Westphalia the leading hydrogen state and reach at least three gigawatts of electrolysis capacity by 2030. Industry is to get help with the switch, and research on capturing CO2 is to keep receiving support.

The CDU wants to make much more hydrogen in the state. Hydrogen can replace coal, oil and gas. Old gas pipelines should carry hydrogen. Factories should get help with the switch. The CDU also wants to support technology that captures CO2.

The CDU wants the state to be better prepared for severe weather and to secure critical infrastructure against extreme conditions. A new state water center (Landeszentrum Wasser) is to develop strategies for drought as well as for floods and heavy rain, and take charge of warnings about water hazards.

The CDU wants the state to be better prepared for storms. Important facilities should keep working in extreme weather. The CDU wants to set up a state water center. It should deal with drought and floods. It should also warn people about dangers.

The CDU wants to use new funding programs to bring more greenery into cities and make forests more resilient to climate change. It plans a 50-million-euro tree voucher program, environmental vouchers for local projects, and a tree premium for forest owners.

The CDU wants to plant more trees in cities and villages. There should be over one million new trees. Clubs should get 2,000 euros for environmental projects. Forest owners should get a bonus payment. Forests should cope better with the changing climate.

The CDU wants to make active wolf management possible in Germany and adjust the wolf's protection status to reflect how widespread the animal actually is. It justifies this with the fast-growing wolf population and the aim of securing the future of grazing livestock.

There are more and more wolves. The CDU wants to be allowed to actively control wolf numbers. The wolf should be less strictly protected. This is how the CDU wants to protect sheep and other animals on pastures.

The CDU wants to regulate raw material extraction through a comprehensive strategy that combines environmental and land protection with planning certainty for industry. Recycling and the use of secondary raw materials are to receive more support.

The CDU wants better rules for digging up raw materials. Raw materials include sand and gravel. Less land should be used up. Companies should still be able to plan ahead. The CDU also wants to support more recycling.

The CDU wants to further strengthen hunters' own responsibility and cut bureaucracy. Hunting licenses are to be issued in a uniform and simpler way across the state. The platform describes hunting and fishing as contributions to native biodiversity.

The CDU wants to give hunters more responsibility of their own. There should be less paperwork. Getting a hunting license should be easier. It should also work online. The CDU also wants to support fishing.

The CDU wants to further reduce land consumption. Ecological compensation for construction projects should, where possible, not lead to the loss of valuable farmland. Instead, unsealing built-up land, compensation payments and eco-accounts are to take priority.

Less land should be built over. Anyone who builds must give something back to nature. But good farmland should not be lost for that. The CDU prefers to remove concrete from land. Payments of money should also count as compensation.

The CDU wants farming in North Rhine-Westphalia to remain worthwhile and relies on fair competition within the EU. The rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are to be implemented without national add-ons. Farmers are also to get relief on taxes and paperwork.

Farmers should earn enough money. The CDU wants to apply the EU farm rules exactly as they are. There should be no stricter rules just for Germany. Farmers should pay less tax when they buy land. They should also have fewer forms and records to fill in.

The CDU wants farmers to be able to earn money from services for nature and the climate. Additional environmental services are to be compensated financially, and restrictions on farming should never come without compensation. The party relies on voluntary action and incentives rather than mandates.

Farmers do things for nature and the climate. They should get money for that. The CDU wants no new rules without compensation. It relies on voluntary offers and rewards. The federal government should pay money it has promised.

The CDU wants to use digital technology and new technologies in agriculture. New breeding methods are meant to make plants more resilient and, in the party's view, serve the environment, the climate, food security and biodiversity.

The CDU wants farmers to use modern technology. This includes new methods of plant breeding. They should make plants more robust. That should help the environment and the climate. Rural areas should get fast internet everywhere.

The CDU wants to speed up the shift toward better animal welfare in livestock farming while taking the effects on farms into account. Producers are to be reimbursed for the higher costs through state support and compensation payments, with a moderate share passed on to consumers.

Farm animals should have better lives. That costs farmers more money. The state should help farmers with this. Prices in stores should also rise a little. Meat labels should show where it comes from and how the animal lived.

The CDU wants to turn public transit into a real alternative to driving. Larger municipalities are to get a rail or express bus link, regional trains are to run every 15 minutes as a baseline, and bus and on-demand services are to grow statewide.

The CDU wants more buses and trains. Every town with 20,000 people or more should get a train or a fast bus. Trains should run every 15 minutes. Buses that you can order should be available everywhere.

The CDU wants to connect the various transport options more closely, both digitally and on the ground. It plans a single app for all modes of transport, 1,000 more mobility hubs, and a discounted monthly ticket for older people.

The CDU wants to link buses, trains, bikes and shared cars better. One app should work for all trips. There should be 1,000 new mobility hubs. People can change easily there. Older people should get a ticket for 30 euros a month.

The CDU wants to expand the bike path network so that a quarter of all trips are made by bicycle in the future. At least 1,000 kilometers of new bike paths are to be built within five years. It also stands by the goal that no one should be harmed in road traffic.

The CDU wants to build more bike paths. In five years there should be at least 1,000 kilometers more. People should make one in four trips by bike. People on foot and on bikes should be safer.

The CDU wants to work with the federal government to move more freight from roads onto trains and inland ships. To that end, the rail network is to be expanded, freight yards modernized and canal bridges raised. The program justifies this with the industrial region's need for a resilient logistics network.

The CDU wants more goods to travel by train and ship. For this, the rail network should get better. Bridges over canals should be raised. Then ships can carry more containers.

The CDU wants to keep spending on state roads at its current high level and build more town bypasses. In its view, roads, bridges and tunnels in good condition are a basis for growth and mobility, and less through traffic improves quality of life in towns.

The CDU wants to keep spending a lot of money on roads. It wants to build roads that go around towns. Then fewer cars drive through the town. There should be more parking for trucks.

The CDU wants to further shorten and digitize planning, permitting and construction procedures. It calls on the federal government to replace the bridges on autobahns and federal roads in the state as quickly as possible. A recruitment drive at universities is meant to bring in more planning professionals.

The CDU wants roads and bridges to be planned and built faster. Offices should do more of this work digitally. The federal government should rebuild broken bridges quickly. More young people should train as planners.

The CDU sees the electric motor as the drive system of the future and wants to expand subsidies for charging stations so that electric mobility works in everyday life across the state. In addition, other technologies such as e-fuels and fuel cells are to be funded on a technology-neutral basis.

The CDU wants to fund more charging stations for electric cars. Everyone should be able to charge, in cities and in the countryside. The CDU also wants to support other ways to power vehicles. These include man-made fuels. They are called e-fuels.

The CDU wants to retain the airports spread across the state. It intends to decide how air traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia should develop based on the aviation strategy announced by the federal government, taking into account climate protection and noise protection for residents.

The CDU wants to keep the many airports in the state. It wants to wait for a plan from the federal government first. Then it will decide about air traffic. Protecting the climate and limiting noise should matter in that decision.

The CDU wants to keep investing heavily in digital networks, innovation and start-ups. The state itself should also make greater use of digital tools to work faster and more efficiently.

The CDU wants to spend a lot on fast internet. New ideas and new companies should also get money. Government offices should work more digitally. That should make them faster.

The CDU wants to better protect children and teenagers online through education, media literacy, and technical requirements. Secure age-verification systems are to be developed and then made binding for all providers. Smaller networks would also have to take protective measures.

The CDU wants to protect children better online. Children, parents, and teachers should learn more about the dangers. Providers should check users' age in a secure way. For the CDU, clicking a button is not enough. Small networks should also have to protect children.

The CDU wants full gigabit internet coverage across the state and to close the remaining mobile dead zones. 5G is to be available almost everywhere by the end of 2024, and the gigabit master plan is to be completed by 2025.

The CDU wants very fast internet everywhere. The cell phone network should also be good everywhere. By the end of 2024 there should be 5G almost everywhere. 5G is a fast cell phone network.

The CDU wants to make North Rhine-Westphalia a leading location for quantum computing and artificial intelligence. To that end, 50 new professorships are to be created in each field, existing research centers expanded and cybersecurity research strengthened.

The CDU wants more research on new computer technology. This includes quantum computers and artificial intelligence. There should be 100 new professorships for this. Research on internet security should also grow.

The CDU wants to digitize public administration so that people can handle official business from home. One app is to bundle all citizen services in the state, and administrative services are to be available digitally around the clock.

The CDU wants to make government offices digital. People should no longer have to go to an office. They should do everything with an app on their phone. The app should be easy and safe.

The CDU wants to organize the state administration in a more digital and decentralized way. Agencies are to get branch locations across the state, especially in rural areas, and clear rules are to be set for working from home.

The CDU wants public offices to work more digitally. State offices should also have small sites in the countryside. There should be clear rules for working from home. The staff should have a say.

The CDU wants to grow the police force in North Rhine-Westphalia from around 40,000 to at least 45,000 officers. To that end, 3,000 trainees are to begin their training every year.

The CDU wants more police. Today there are about 40,000 police officers. There should be at least 45,000. For this, 3,000 young people should start training every year.

The CDU wants to run a recruitment campaign to bring career changers and specialists into the police and make the criminal investigation service more attractive to young people. Officers should also be able to gain further qualifications through an additional IT degree.

The police need experts. The CDU wants to advertise for them. People from other jobs should join the police too. Young people should get into detective work faster. Officers should be able to learn extra computer skills.

The CDU wants to create a dedicated strategic search unit at each of the five highway police inspectorates and expand cooperation with neighboring European countries in fighting crime. It also wants to examine mixed investigation teams drawn from several agencies.

The CDU wants new police units on the highways. They should look for criminals there. The police should work more with neighboring countries. Criminals should not be able to hide across the border. Different agencies may investigate together.

The CDU wants security and aid organizations to appear regularly in schools, present their work and recruit young people. Alongside police and fire departments, this includes the Bundeswehr (German armed forces).

Police, firefighters and aid workers should visit schools regularly. The armed forces should come too. They show their work there. They may tell students about jobs with them.

The CDU wants stricter punishment for attacks on emergency and police personnel and better equipment for the police. It rejects mandatory identification badges for officers. In the party's view, tougher penalties act as a deterrent.

The CDU wants tougher penalties for attacks on police officers. The police should get better equipment. Officers should not have to wear a name tag or number. The CDU says strict penalties scare off offenders.

The CDU wants to pursue crime on the internet with specialized officers known as cybercops. It also wants to modernize police technology and make criminal investigation more digital.

The CDU wants special police officers for the internet. They are called cybercops. They should look for crimes online. The police should also get better computers.

The CDU wants to require social networks and messaging services to provide information in cases of hate crime and other offenses. Those who stir up hatred or call for violence online should not be able to rely on anonymity, the party says.

Some people spread hate on the internet. The CDU wants social networks to give information to the police in such cases. Offenders should not be able to hide. Hate crimes should also be counted separately.

The CDU wants to introduce the Online-Durchsuchung (covert remote searches of suspects' data). At the federal level, it wants to put traffic data retention on a firm legal footing and extend retention periods to six months.

Police should be allowed to secretly search the data of suspects. Phone and internet companies should store connection data for six months. The CDU says this helps police solve more crimes.

The CDU wants to keep fighting criminal clans and organized crime with heavy checks and prosecution pressure. New legal tools are to be added, such as reversing the burden of proof for assets of unclear origin.

The CDU wants to be strict with criminal clans. Police should carry out many checks. People who cannot explain where their money comes from could lose it. Young people should get help to leave clans.

The CDU wants to step up the fight against ATM bombings, which the program says have risen sharply. It relies on cross-border cooperation and technical safeguards in the machines.

Criminals blow up cash machines more and more often. The CDU wants to stop this. Police should work with neighboring countries. Banknotes should become useless when a machine is blown up.

The CDU wants to expand the staff and technology of the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) and revise the law governing it. Extremist structures are to be broken up through bans on associations and prosecution, complemented by more prevention.

The Verfassungsschutz watches enemies of democracy. The CDU wants to give it more staff and better technology. Extremist groups should be banned. Children and young people should get help early.

The CDU wants to expand municipalities' responsibility for public safety. Cities and towns are to get a legal basis for video surveillance in public spaces, and municipal enforcement officers are to get better working conditions.

Cities should be able to do more for safety. They should be allowed to watch public places with cameras. Municipal enforcement staff should get better working conditions. Police and city offices should work together more closely.

After the flood disaster of July 2021, the CDU wants to reorganize disaster protection. Plans include a permanent command staff at the state level, binding needs planning in the counties, and more reliable warning systems.

In summer 2021 there was a severe flood. The CDU wants to prepare the state better for disasters. There should be more and newer sirens. The state should get a permanent crisis team.

The CDU wants to equip fire services and aid organizations with more modern tools and expand volunteers' rights by law. It points out that volunteers provide more than 90 percent of fire protection in the state.

Many people volunteer with the fire service. The CDU wants to give them more rights. They should get time off work more easily. The fire service should get modern technology.

The CDU wants to expand criminal prosecution in the digital sphere and make prosecutors' offices more specialized. The central unit ZAC NRW is to become a nationally leading center against cybercrime. The platform justifies this with the large volume of damage and the professionalism of offenders.

The CDU wants to fight crime on the internet better. A special justice unit should grow for this. It is called ZAC NRW. Prosecutors should get more experts. There should also be special departments, for example for crimes against older people.

The CDU wants IP addresses to be stored for half a year so that investigators can link them to individuals in cases of serious crime. Disclosure is to happen only by court order. In the platform's view, offenders online usually cannot be identified without this link.

Every device on the internet has an IP address. It is a kind of number. The CDU wants these numbers stored for six months. In serious crimes, the police should get them. A court must allow this first.

In the fight against organized crime, the CDU wants to fully reverse the burden of proof when the origin of assets is unclear. Investigators are also to get expanded legal options for undercover work and surveillance.

The CDU wants to fight crime gangs harder. People with a lot of money of unclear origin should prove where it came from. Otherwise the state can take the money. Investigators should also get more options for surveillance.

The CDU opposes legalizing illegal drugs. It cites health risks for individuals as well as consequences for families and society.

The CDU does not want to allow banned drugs. It says drugs harm people's health. They also harm families and society.

The CDU wants to give crime victims more support and widen the network of support facilities. Criminal proceedings are to move faster. Under the platform's principle, protecting victims takes priority over protecting offenders.

The CDU wants to help crime victims more. There should be more places that offer help. Criminal trials should go faster. For the CDU, victims matter more than offenders.

The CDU wants to build two new prisons to ensure enough prison places. At the same time, inmates are to get more support during and after their sentence so they can live crime-free afterward.

The CDU wants to build two new prisons. This should make sure there are enough places. Prisoners should get support while in prison. After prison, they should get help with housing and work.

The CDU wants to make it easier to identify and prosecute child abusers online. It calls for registration with a German mobile number for services with chat functions and a duty for platforms to check user content for abuse material and report it. According to the platform, child protection should take priority over data protection.

The CDU wants to find offenders online more easily. People who chat in apps or games should sign up with a German cell phone number. Platforms should check content for images of abuse. They should report what they find to investigators. For the CDU, protecting children matters more than data privacy.

The CDU wants to strengthen European foreign and security policy as a whole. Police and courts in the member states are to cooperate more closely by digital means, and Europol is to be expanded.

The CDU wants more security in Europe. Police and courts in EU countries should work together better digitally. Europol is the EU's police agency. The state will keep sending officers there.

The CDU wants to carry out the recommendations of a parliamentary study commission it initiated on the further development of democracy. The aim is for more people to take part and get involved in political life.

A commission made proposals for democracy. The CDU wants to put these proposals into practice. More people should be able to take part in politics. Many people should support democracy.

The CDU wants to give courts and prosecutors' offices more staff and continue digitizing the justice system. Existing court locations are to be kept. According to the platform, the justice system can only do its job with adequate staffing and equipment.

The CDU wants more staff for courts and prosecutors. The justice system should work more digitally. All courts should stay where they are. This should help the justice system do its work well.

The CDU wants to write volunteering into the state constitution as a state objective. This comes with new meeting places, funding programs and “engagement checks” for clubs and associations. The platform calls volunteer community life the foundation of society.

Many people help for free in clubs and associations. The CDU wants to put volunteering into the state constitution. There should be more meeting places, such as clubhouses. Clubs should get money to attract new members. Volunteering should also play a role in schools.

The CDU wants to merge four existing laws into a single municipal constitution and review the tasks municipalities perform. It also wants to expand cooperation between municipalities and make it legally easier.

Today several laws apply to towns, districts and regional bodies. The CDU wants to turn them into one law. It wants to check which tasks towns should have. Towns should also be able to work together more.

The CDU wants to strengthen allowances for special burdens in the public service and protect overtime from expiring. For new recruits, it aims for higher starting pay in the lower career groups and wants to examine a shorter probation period for those with good grades.

The CDU wants to pay civil servants more when their work is especially hard. Overtime should not be lost. Young civil servants should earn more at the start. With good grades, the trial period may become shorter.

The CDU wants to develop a long-term strategy with employers and unions for training, recruiting and qualifying public service staff. It includes better compatibility of family and work, a job bicycle and targeted outreach to young people with an immigrant background.

Many state workers will retire soon. So the CDU wants to win new staff. Family and work should fit together better. Young people from immigrant families should also be invited to apply.

The CDU pursues a two-part strategy: promoting political participation and fighting extremism. It wants more civic education in schools, more money for providers outside schools and an action plan for youth participation.

The CDU wants to strengthen democracy. Schools should teach more about politics. Young people should have more of a say. There should be more money for trips to memorial sites.

The CDU supports initiatives for a mandatory period of service to society. It would apply to young men and women after they finish school.

The CDU is in favor of required service for young people. It would start after school. It applies to men and women. People could also do it outside the military.

The CDU wants to expand North Rhine-Westphalia's cooperation with neighbors and partner regions in Europe and beyond. A new state office is to open in London, and the state's voice in Brussels is to carry more weight.

The CDU wants to work more closely with neighbors and partners. These include the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Poland. The state should open its own office in London. Young people should find it easier to spend time in other European countries.

The CDU wants to implement European law without adding extra requirements and calls for less red tape. In its view, Europe should offer opportunities rather than new burdens, and the principle of subsidiarity should be sharpened.

The CDU wants to apply EU rules exactly as they are. There should be no extra rules on top. The party wants less red tape. Planning in Europe should go faster.

The CDU wants to support the federal government in better equipping the Bundeswehr so it can defend the country and its allies. It bases this on the security situation changed by the war against Ukraine.

The CDU wants a stronger Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces. It should be able to defend Germany and its partners. The federal government should keep its promise of more money. Officers should keep informing students in schools about the military.

The CDU wants to increase the state's cultural spending by another half, in several steps. Municipal theaters and orchestras are also to receive considerably more state money.

The CDU wants to spend more money on culture. The state should pay half as much again as today. This should happen step by step. Theaters and orchestras in the cities should also get more money.

The CDU wants artists to have better incomes and reliable social security, and seeks a joint solution with the federal government and the other states. Funding is to be more tailored, multi-year and less bureaucratic; the cultural and creative industries are also to get their own funding.

The CDU wants to help artists. They should earn more and have better social security. Funding should run for several years. That should mean less paperwork. Small book publishers should also get money.

The CDU wants to strengthen diversity as a core part of its cultural policy and support a diversity competence center. The Dritte Orte ("third places"), cultural meeting points mainly in rural areas, are to be set up statewide.

The CDU wants more diversity in culture. There should be an advice center for this. Rural areas should have cultural meeting places everywhere. These are called Dritte Orte, or third places.

The CDU wants to speed up digitalization in the cultural sector. Museum collections are to be recorded digitally across the state, and artists are to get shared digital production spaces.

The CDU wants culture to become more digital. All museums should record their collections on computers. Artists should get digital workshops. They should be able to share them.

The CDU wants to expand the work of memorial sites in the state and turn the former prisoner-of-war camp Stalag 326 into a memorial of national importance. It also wants to strengthen the bodies representing expellees and ethnic German resettlers.

The CDU wants to strengthen memorial sites. These are places that remind people of history. A former camp for prisoners of war should become a major memorial. The culture of Germans expelled after the war should also get more support.

The CDU wants to continue the state program that funds Heimat (home and local identity) projects. It supports volunteer and local initiatives that preserve places people identify with and keep customs alive.

The state has a program for local identity. It gives money to people who do things for their town. The CDU wants to keep this program going. More people should take part.

The CDU wants to continue supporting film and television in North Rhine-Westphalia and improve conditions for productions. Movie theaters in rural areas are to be strengthened.

The CDU wants to keep supporting film and TV in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state's film foundation should get money for this. Movie theaters in the countryside should get help too.

The CDU wants to adapt the dual system of public and private broadcasting to the digital age. Local radio is to be strengthened and the profile of public broadcaster WDR sharpened.

The CDU wants to strengthen local radio stations. They should get help with going digital. The public broadcaster WDR should focus more on special content. That means content private stations offer less of.

The CDU wants to build up people's skills in handling media and information. This is meant to help against hate, threats and fake news online and enable a thoughtful use of digital media.

The CDU wants everyone to be able to handle media well. This should help against hate and fake news on the internet. Projects for children, teenagers and adults should be strengthened.

The CDU wants to keep quality journalism competitive online, especially at the local and regional level. Journalism should be able to qualify as a nonprofit activity under tax law.

The CDU wants to strengthen local journalism. Journalism should count as a nonprofit activity. Nonprofit means: it serves the public and gets tax benefits. Checked news should be easy to find on the internet.

The CDU wants to continue the state's existing cooperation with churches, religious communities, and Jewish and Islamic congregations. It argues that society lives on values and that social cohesion cannot be imposed from above.

The state works together with churches and other religions. This includes Jewish and Islamic communities. The CDU wants to keep doing this. It says society needs values.

The CDU wants to keep supporting the consumer advice centers and fund an advice service in every county and independent city. Its guiding idea is informed consumers who can decide for themselves when they have transparency and information.

The CDU wants more advice for consumers. Consumers are people who buy things. Every county and every large city should have an advice service. Online advice should grow too. The CDU wants to warn people about fake online shops.

The CDU wants consumers to get information on every stage of production for processed foods, for example through a QR code. It also wants to educate people about best-before dates and organize food inspection more efficiently.

The CDU wants clear information about food. People should see how a product was made. This can work with a QR code. A QR code is an image you scan with your phone. The CDU also wants to explain: much food is still good after the best-before date.

The CDU wants to launch a new funding program to renovate sports facilities and make them more energy-efficient. It also wants to bring back a mandatory annual school sports day, expand sports schools and attract major sporting events, including the Olympic Games, to North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU wants to renew sports fields and gyms. There should be a new funding program for this. Every school should hold a sports day once a year. The CDU also hopes for Olympic Games in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The CDU wants to launch a state program for rural areas aimed mainly at municipalities with no more than 15,000 residents. The state's existing funding programs for rural areas are to be merged into it. In addition, pilot projects are planned for villages that supply themselves with renewable energy.

The CDU wants a program for areas outside the big cities. It should mainly help small towns. Older programs will be combined in it. Some villages should make their own power from sun or wind.