CDU on the economy

The CDU wants to defend the competitiveness of Saarland's industry at EU, federal and state level against regulation it considers hostile to industry. In its view, climate protection should come through technological innovation and fair competition, not by moving production abroad.

The CDU wants to protect industry in Saarland. It rejects rules that hurt industry. This is especially true for steel and cars. The CDU says new technology helps the climate more than factories abroad.

The platform calls industry the backbone of Saarland's economy. The CDU sees the steel and auto industries, with their suppliers and service providers, as crucial for jobs and value creation. It argues that shifting production to low-wage countries does not help the climate. Instead, the CDU calls for fair conditions in global competition between industrial locations and relies on business know-how.

The CDU wants Saarland to remain a car-making state where the car of the future is built. To that end, the industry is to gradually reduce its dependence on the combustion engine, supported by a new mobility competence center at the university.

Cars should still be built in Saarland in the future. Companies should depend less on gasoline and diesel engines. The CDU wants to set up a new center at the university. It will do research on new car technology.

According to the platform, the auto industry faces deep change toward electric mobility, automation and digitalization. Suppliers are to gradually overcome their dependence on parts for combustion engines. The planned "mobility.transformation.hub" builds on the existing automotive.netzwerk-saarland and is to work closely with non-university research institutes. Research is to cover connected, automated and alternative mobility concepts as well as new drive technologies.

The CDU wants to bring more companies to Saarland and make attracting them a task for the state premier personally. To do so, industrial land is to be made available continuously, preferably on former industrial sites.

The CDU wants to bring new companies to Saarland. The state premier should take care of this himself. There should always be enough land for companies. Old industrial sites should be reused first.

The platform cites the arrival of battery maker SVolt and a ZF research center as examples. Contacts with corporate headquarters are to be used to promote the state as a place for investment and innovation. Abandoned industrial sites, known as brownfields, are to be developed first. Industrial buildings with especially eco-friendly design are to receive an "Umweltfreundliche Wirtschaft" (eco-friendly business) label. After the election, a master plan for industrial and commercial land in the 2030s is planned.

The CDU wants to position Saarland as a location for a circular economy, especially in recycling vehicle batteries. A dedicated strategy is meant to attract new companies and strengthen existing ones.

The CDU wants more recycling in Saarland. Recycling means using raw materials again. This is especially true for old car batteries. A plan should bring new companies for this to the state.

The platform expects that within a few years scarce raw materials will have to be recovered from used vehicle batteries. As an automotive location, Saarland could take a leading role here. The use of industrial waste heat is also named as an important economic factor. The reasons given are climate protection and growing scarcity of raw materials.

The CDU wants to draw up a raw materials plan for Saarland so that local mineral resources can be extracted and processed in the state. In the platform's view, short transport routes benefit the environment.

Saarland has raw materials in the ground. The CDU wants to use them in the state itself. There should be a plan for this. The CDU says short routes are good for the environment.

The plan is to match demand with existing deposits. It is meant to secure the state's supply for the coming decades and allow extraction and processing within Saarland. The interests of residents and environmental and nature conservation law are to be respected.

The CDU wants to create a statewide advisory service for mid-sized and family-owned businesses. It is meant to help them adapt their business models to new technologies, energy efficiency and online markets.

The CDU wants to help small and mid-sized companies. There should be a new advice service all over the state. The first session is free. This should help companies deal with new technology and online retail.

The "Zukunftsnetzwerk Mittelstand" (future network for mid-sized business) is to be built together with regional economic development agencies. Every interested company is to get a free first consultation called a "Mittelstands-Fitness-Check." It is meant to show ways to modernize and expand the business model. Topics named include 3D printing, energy efficiency, online retail and the platform economy.

The CDU wants to help downtown retailers catch up with online shopping and win customers back. A pilot project is to test local platforms with ordering from the local shop and pickup stations.

The CDU wants to help downtown shops. Customers should be able to order online from a local shop. They then pick up the goods, for example from a locker. The CDU wants to test this in a project.

According to the platform, retail needs lively downtowns, for which noise protection, enough parking, green spaces and greened buildings matter. Customers are to order by phone or online from a local retailer and have goods delivered, collect them in the shop or take them from a locker. The CDU calls this concept "Glokalisierung" (glocalization) and wants to test and fund it.

The CDU wants to attract more young people to training and self-employment in the skilled trades and to keep the Meisterbonus (a bonus for master craftspeople). According to the platform, tradespeople are also needed for the energy transition.

The CDU wants to strengthen the skilled trades. More young people should train there. People who become master craftspeople still get a bonus from the state. Tradespeople should find it easier to work in the neighboring country.

The CDU wants to support the Chamber of Skilled Crafts in recruiting young people and to build a motivation campaign for training in trades and commerce. Saarland's school for master craftspeople and technicians is to be supported and the inter-company training facilities completely rebuilt. The platform sees the advancement bonus as a contribution to equal standing for vocational and academic education. Obstacles to cross-border jobs, such as forms under the Posted Workers Directive, are to be removed step by step.

The CDU wants a joint tourism strategy for all of Saarland that every county supports. The sector is to get help with digitalization and stand out through cycling, hiking, health and cultural tourism.

The CDU wants a tourism plan for all of Saarland. All counties should take part. The state should become known for cycling, hiking, health and culture. Buses and trains should fit tourist destinations better.

Advertising is to focus more on target groups and less on individual counties. Local public transport is to be better matched to tourists' needs. Cycling and hiking trails are to be linked with restaurants and hotels. Information on destinations is to be available by QR code and as open data. For restaurants and hotels, the CDU plans a dedicated concept for recruiting skilled workers.

The CDU wants to fundamentally reorganize startup support in Saarland and make the state a location for technology-based startups. At the core are the "Saar Tech Cycle" concept with coaching and a well-funded state startup fund.

Few companies are founded in Saarland. The CDU wants to change that. Founders should get better advice. A new state fund should give young companies money. There should also be more spaces for young companies.

The platform considers existing founder support inadequate and wants to make more use of potential in fields such as computer science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and medical technology. The fund is mainly to finance the seed and growth stages; access to private equity is to improve through networks. Private startup locations are to be linked with public offers such as the CISPA Innovation Campus. Spaces for startups are to be created near the university, with equity stakes possible instead of rent. The CDU aims to take full responsibility for startup policy in the future.

The CDU wants young companies to take a larger part in public contracts. A clause is meant to keep them from being shut out of tenders for lack of experience and references.

The state awards many contracts to companies. Young companies often do not get them. They lack years of experience. The CDU wants to change the rules. Young companies should then get a chance too.

According to the platform, public buyers often require several years of experience and many reference projects. As a result, startups lose out even when they offer advantages in price or quality. The planned clause is to apply mainly to contracts that do not have to be tendered Europe-wide. This is meant to let young firms build up references of their own.

The CDU wants to bring founders together with companies and investors and raise the Saarland's profile as a place to start a business. It plans regular events, a state prize, and cooperation with startup centers in Luxembourg and Paris.

The CDU wants to help people who start a company. They should meet investors and companies more easily. There will be a prize for good ideas. This should make the Saarland better known as a place for new companies.

The new excellence and technology marketing run by the agency saaris is to host regular networking formats such as pitches and cultural events. A state founder and ideas prize is meant to attract nationwide attention. Cooperation with startup centers in Luxembourg and Paris is intended to give Saarland founders easier access to international markets and equity capital. Cross-border support for scalable business models is to become a distinctive feature of the state's startup policy.

The CDU wants to turn more university knowledge into economic value, especially in the health sector. To that end, a startup center is to be set up at the university hospital in Homburg.

The CDU wants a center for new companies at the university hospital in Homburg. Research there should lead to new businesses. The focus is on medicine and health. The center helps with planning a company.

The platform sees strong startup potential in medical technology, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences, as well as in e-health through digitalization and artificial intelligence. The startup center is to record systematically which research and development results are suitable for new companies. It is also meant to help turn medical and technical expertise into business plans.

The CDU wants to manage structural change through more public investment, stronger innovation funding, and better depreciation rules. Industrial policy is to support the shift to a climate-neutral and circular economy.

The CDU wants more money to go into infrastructure and new technology. Companies should be able to deduct spending on new technology from taxes faster. The state should support new ideas in companies more. This should make the economy climate-friendly.

The "Investitionsoffensive Saar" (Saar investment drive) is to be accelerated after the COVID recession in order to maintain and build infrastructure. The CDU wants to push for permanent declining-balance depreciation, especially for digital technology and climate investments, and for a permanently higher threshold for immediately writing off low-value assets. The Saarland is to position itself as an innovation region, expand technology transfer, and raise funding for innovation investments; the platform also names available industrial land as a precondition for attracting companies. Raw materials are to be kept in circulation more, which the platform says noticeably cuts CO2 emissions.

The CDU wants to market the Saarland more assertively abroad as a business and research location and fund this marketing on a lasting basis. Business promotion, currently spread across many bodies, is to be better coordinated.

The CDU wants to advertise the Saarland more in other countries. There should be lasting money for this. Many offices in the state support companies. These offices should work together more closely.

Location marketing is to be developed into technology and excellence marketing with a stronger international focus, to win over investors, highly qualified professionals, and founders. The CDU wants to streamline support for business and technology transfer. In agreement with municipal bodies, an umbrella working group of the business development agencies is to be created. This platform is meant to improve coordination, serve investors more efficiently, and better support existing companies, while regional bodies stay independent.

The CDU wants better tax incentives for research and development in companies. It sees the low private research rate as a locational disadvantage for Saarland.

Companies in Saarland do less research than companies in other states. The CDU wants to change that. Companies should pay less tax when they do research. This should bring new ideas and products.

According to the platform, private-sector research spending in Saarland is low compared with the rest of Germany. The CDU considers the existing application-based project funding too slow given digital change and pressure to innovate. It cites studies finding that tax-based support can benefit the overall economy and help companies finance innovation themselves.

The CDU wants to make Saarland a European hub for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. To that end, research institutions such as CISPA and DFKI are to grow and get additional land and buildings.

The CDU wants Saarland to be strong in artificial intelligence and internet security. Research institutes should grow. They get new buildings. New companies should come out of this too.

With federal help, the CISPA Helmholtz Center in Saarbrücken is to grow from 330 to 800 staff in the medium term, 500 of them from core funding; a large site on campus is to be developed for it. DFKI (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) is to be strengthened and tied to the university through new bridge professorships. The Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research is also to be expanded, and space on campus is planned for a sensor intelligence focus with two Fraunhofer institutes. With the Innovation Campus in St. Ingbert, the CDU wants to foster knowledge-based startups.

The CDU wants to expand business-oriented research institutes, bring new top-tier institutions to Saarland and link them closely with companies. University spin-offs are to be allowed to market the results they obtained there in exchange for compensation.

The CDU wants to bring more research institutes to Saarland. They should work closely with companies. People who invent something at a university should find it easier to start a company. There should be clear rules for this.

The platform cites a center for sensor intelligence and closer cooperation in the NanoBioMed field as examples. CISPA and the Innovation Campus are to be promoted as a magnet for companies, institutes and skilled workers. Dual and business-integrated degree programs, especially technical ones, are to be expanded, with the htw saar playing a central role. The CDU wants to set firm rules for how public institutes and private spin-offs interact, for example on the use of rooms and infrastructure. The party presents this as a response to structural change in Saarland's economy.

The CDU wants to significantly increase cooperation between research and industry, creating a central point of contact and additional capacity for industrial research. New technological developments are to be spotted and used more quickly.

Research and industry should work together more. The CDU wants to set up one central office for this. Companies can turn to it. The state should spot and use new technology faster.

So-called industry pitches are to develop future industrial topics systematically, up to demonstration projects. This is meant to quickly produce suitable research offers for newly arriving companies too, along with help in recruiting skilled workers. To detect new technologies early, the CDU plans a governance and monitoring structure within the state government and involves the innovation agency saaris and the transfer offices KWT and FITT. Start-up and transfer activities are to count for more in evaluations within the science system.

The CDU wants to strengthen Saarbrücken as a location for research, business and culture and to decide quickly on major investments. These include more space at the university campus, fiber-optic connections for everyone, a cultural mile and an overall urban development concept.

The CDU wants to strengthen Saarbrücken. Decisions on big investments should come quickly. The university should get more space for new companies. All homes and companies should get fast fiber-optic internet.

Additional land is to be made available around the Saarland University campus; the Science Park and the starter center are to be expanded for spin-offs and growing start-ups. Every household and every business in the city is to get a fiber-optic connection. Plans for the convention and trade fair site are to be carried out and supplemented with a concert hall concept, with a cultural mile between the music university and the State Theater. In urban development, the platform sees the revival of the Alte Brücke bridge and the design of the Saar riverbanks as the core of an overall concept. State and city are to cooperate more closely and cut duplicate structures.

The CDU wants to put support for the video game industry in the Saarland on a permanent footing and give it more money as far as the budget allows. The state is also to become a training location for games. The platform sees great potential for creativity, innovation and growth in the industry.

The CDU wants to support companies that make video games. The support should become permanent and get more money. People should also be able to train for this work in the Saarland. A new professorship is planned for that.

The existing support through Game Base Saar and GameHub Saar is to be developed into a permanent institution. To train young talent and skilled workers, the CDU wants to create a professorship in games. The platform notes that game technology is also used in the automotive industry and medical technology. It regards games as a cultural asset with potential for education and health.

The CDU wants to cut legal and administrative obstacles to living, working and doing business across borders. To do so, it backs a European Business Code, a fresh attempt at the European Cross Border Mechanism and more advice for cross-border commuters.

Many people and companies work across the border. There are still many obstacles. The CDU wants to remove these obstacles. It wants one shared business law code for Europe. Cross-border commuters should get more advice.

A uniform business code is meant to let small and mid-sized companies invest in neighboring countries without high legal advice costs. After the EU's proposed regulation failed, the CDU wants to commission an expert report preparing a version of the ECBM that complies with EU law. Advice services for cross-border commuters are to grow, with the Task Force Grenzgänger (cross-border workers task force) playing an important role. The CDU wants to promote removing these barriers in the bodies of the Greater Region as well as in Berlin and Brussels.