CDU on democracy and the state

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 platform argues that democracy must be accepted and practiced by as many people as possible. Participation and involvement in the political community are to be expanded. The CDU also commits to federalism and subsidiarity and wants to include the state's direct neighbors in its policy.

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 platform announces additional positions and wants to examine whether assistants for judges could ease workloads. Justice careers are to become more financially attractive, with more promotion posts and a better work-family balance. Uniform standards are planned for legal trainees, along with closer cooperation with universities. Staff are to receive modern hardware and software for remote work and data exchange, and a digital service point is to offer things like register extracts and electronic certificates of inheritance. Despite artificial intelligence, evaluative rulings are to remain solely with judges. The CDU also wants to support out-of-court dispute resolution and the justice system's press work.

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.

Meeting places such as clubhouses or village community centers are to be created where none exist so far. The “Dorferneuerung” (village renewal) program is to grow, and a funding program for clubs in culture, heritage and tradition is planned along the lines of “Moderne Sportstätte 2022.” Engagement checks are to pay for taster courses and recruitment drives to make up for members lost during the COVID-19 period. Clubs are to be more involved in all-day schooling, and the youth leader card (Juleica) might be obtainable at schools. Volunteers in voluntary service programs are to get a subsidy for public transit passes, and clubs are to reach out better to people with disabilities and immigrants.

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 laws governing municipalities, districts, the regional associations (Landschaftsverbände) and the Ruhr Regional Association are to be combined. A review of tasks is meant to prepare municipalities for future demands. The CDU wants to work with the municipal umbrella associations on solutions for unfilled positions in local administrations. Laws are to be changed where needed to enable cooperation between municipalities; at the federal level, the CDU wants to ensure that Section 2b of the VAT Act does not block such cooperation.

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.

Payment for overtime is to be made attractive in tax terms; the platform's stated principle is that extra work should be paid accordingly. The higher starting pay concerns career groups 1.1 and 1.2 and is meant to give young people security early on. Options for granting post allowances are to be widened. The working-life time accounts are to be evaluated and adjusted, part-time staff are to have equal chances for promotion, and office buildings are to be further renovated and made more energy efficient.

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 platform notes that about half of the roughly 860,000 employees will leave for age reasons by 2036. The strategy is also meant to ease movement between the public service, private business, academia and the municipal and state levels. Those caring for children or relatives in need of care are to receive support; the CDU wants to examine an obligation to provide childcare in state agencies. State employees are to be offered a job bicycle, and an initiative is to attract young people with an immigrant background to the public service.

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 recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry commission on strengthening parliamentary democracy are to be implemented. State and municipal employees are to be trained across the board in dealing with radical and extremist attitudes, and research on populism, radicalization and extremism is to be strengthened. Funding for trips to memorial sites at former concentration camps is to be doubled. Digital forms of democratic participation are to be further researched and tested. The state agency for civic education is to cooperate more closely with adult education to win back people who have turned away from democracy.

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 service is aimed at school leavers of both sexes. It is not meant to be limited to the Bundeswehr but could be performed in other areas as well. The platform places the plan in the context of Europe's changed security situation.