CDU on democracy and the state

The CDU wants to use the Bundesrat to push for a mandatory year of community service. The program presents the plan in the context of the Bundeswehr and security preparedness.

The CDU wants a required year of service for the community. It plans to propose this in the Bundesrat. The Bundesrat is the body that represents the German states.

The state of Rhineland-Palatinate would launch an initiative in the Bundesrat, the chamber of the states that takes part in federal lawmaking. The goal is a compulsory year of service to society. The program mentions the plan alongside strengthening the Bundeswehr and preparing for emergencies and disasters.

The CDU wants to appoint, for the first time, a state secretary for sports and volunteering in the State Chancellery. Both areas would thus be represented at the center of government and coordinated across ministries.

The CDU wants to create a new post in the government. A state secretary would look after sports and volunteering. A state secretary is a senior government official. This person would be the contact for clubs and towns.

The state secretary is meant to drive the sports pact forward. Together with the state sports federation and the three regional sports federations, the office would be the central point of contact for associations, clubs and municipalities. The CDU expects faster and more consistent decisions on sports policy as a result.

The CDU wants to tackle red tape and digitalization together and have the administration act as a service provider. Rules are to be reviewed, scrapped or simplified, and responsibility for digital matters is to sit in one place within the state government.

The CDU wants fewer rules and less paperwork. Old rules should be checked and removed. People and firms can report annoying rules online. One single office in the government should handle digital matters. The state should trust people more.

The platform names four pillars: new rules only if they are necessary and can be carried out digitally; using discretion in favor of citizens and businesses; reviewing existing rules systematically from the start; fully digital processes plus a digital check for every new law. A statewide reporting portal is to collect tips about bureaucratic hurdles, which will be evaluated. Some new laws are to get an expiration date on a trial basis. The CDU wants to do without gold-plating, meaning going beyond what EU and federal rules require. It favors fewer checks and more personal responsibility.

The CDU plans a state acceleration law with fixed deadlines for all procedures. If an agency does not decide in time, the permit is to count as granted automatically.

The CDU wants permits to come faster. Agencies get fixed deadlines. If an agency decides too late, the request counts as approved. Everyone should see online how far their request is. Public contracts should also be awarded more simply.

The plan includes binding processing times, more staff in key positions and pilot projects for faster procedures in housing, energy and infrastructure. Approval steps are to run in parallel instead of one after another, and large projects are to get central permitting offices. In the Bundesrat, the CDU wants to back changes to the right of associations to sue (Verbandsklagerecht). Applicants are to see the status and the responsible official online. For public procurement, higher thresholds and fewer formal requirements are to apply. Evaluation criteria in the public service are to be changed to reward willingness to make decisions.

The CDU wants to recruit and keep more staff for the public service through a skilled-worker campaign. Pay and working conditions are to improve so that applicants do not choose other states, the federal government or the private sector instead.

The state lacks skilled staff. So the CDU wants to make public service jobs better. Civil servants and employees should get better conditions. Pay should keep up with other states. A new office in the governor's office will look after staffing.

A staff unit in the Staatskanzlei (state chancellery) is to handle recruiting, retaining and developing skilled workers across all ministries. The Kostendämpfungspauschale, a co-payment civil servants make toward their health benefits, is to be dropped. Allowances such as the police allowance are to count toward pensions. On salaries, entry grades and career prospects, the CDU wants to catch up with other states. Added to this are flexible working hours, remote work, a modern leadership culture and a leased company bike for all staff.