CDU on the economy

The CDU wants to make Saxony-Anhalt one of the five most attractive locations in Europe for companies setting up new sites. To get there, it plans to build on existing strengths such as the central location, available industrial land and the energy supply.

The CDU wants more companies to come to Saxony-Anhalt. The state should be among the five best regions in Europe. The CDU wants to invest in roads and industrial land. Companies should be able to rely on stable rules.

The program lists the state's advantages: location, available industrial land, cost levels, skilled workers, child care, and chemical and logistics clusters. The state's investment and marketing agency (IMG) is to guide companies from first inquiry to completion. The plan includes ready-to-use industrial sites, faster permits, an active skilled-labor policy and further infrastructure investment. Political continuity is meant to give investors planning certainty. The CDU also backs efforts to attract large companies, such as Halle (Saale)'s bid for a Deutsche Bahn corporate site.

The CDU wants to achieve higher wages through a stronger economy rather than through government mandates or redistribution. It commits to the social market economy and wants to defend and further develop it.

The CDU wants people to earn good wages. For that, companies in the state should become stronger. The government should not set wages. The CDU wants to keep the social market economy. That is a free economy with social protection.

According to the program, only successful companies can offer secure jobs and pay more. Good wages are described as the basis for prosperity, starting a family, owning property and saving for old age. In the CDU's view, the social market economy must be protected against ideological attacks. Trust in achievement, personal responsibility and entrepreneurship is to be strengthened. At the federal level, the program calls for tax relief, predictable energy prices and a state that enables more.

The CDU wants to turn Saxony-Anhalt into a chemical and pharmaceutical hub that reduces Europe's dependence on supplies from other parts of the world. Existing plants are to be kept and new ones attracted, especially in strategically important fields.

The CDU wants more chemical and pharma companies in the state. Europe should make important substances itself. Then Europe depends less on other countries. Permits should come faster. The state also wants to use EU money.

The strategic fields named include chemicals for semiconductors and batteries, antibiotic ingredients, basic pharma chemicals, industrial gases, nitro chemistry for defense and ammonia-based fertilizer. Environmental reviews are to be bundled, and the CDU wants to push for exemptions from environmental and chemicals rules. Permits are to come from a single office. EU programs such as Horizon Europe and SAFE are to be used. Under the Critical Medicines Act, the state wants to offer itself as a production site for critical medicines and have projects recognized as strategic. The chemical industry in the south is to be supported through structural change; the state takes part in the Critical Chemicals Alliance.

The CDU wants to strengthen small and mid-sized businesses, value startup culture and give targeted support to young entrepreneurs. It puts particular weight on business succession so that firms do not close when their owners retire.

The CDU wants to strengthen small and mid-sized companies. Many owners will retire soon. Then the company needs someone to take over. The CDU wants to help with that. Young business owners should also get help.

The program calls small and mid-sized firms the backbone of the state's economy. Conditions for handing over a business are to improve, and young entrepreneurs are to get more recognition and help. In the CDU's view, business owners deserve trust rather than blanket suspicion. Succession support is justified by the retirement of the baby boomers, which takes away knowledge and many owners. The goal is to preserve tens of thousands of jobs.

The CDU wants the state to allow no new requirements or reporting duties for businesses for five years. Levies and fees should also not rise during that time where possible. The program argues that the economy needs relief from many bureaucratic obstacles.

The CDU does not want to add burdens on companies for five years. The state should make no new requirements. Fees for companies should not go up where possible. For each new rule, an old rule should go.

The cost freeze is to apply wherever possible, for example to the broadcasting fee, employers' liability insurance associations and other professional levies. At the state level, a one-in, one-out rule is to apply: each unavoidable new burden is offset by dropping at least one existing rule. The CDU welcomes efforts by the states and the federal government to cut reporting duties nationwide. It wants to use the state's chairmanship of the conference of state premiers to advance the modernization of government.

The CDU wants to fill the High-Tech Park Sachsen-Anhalt with high-tech companies and suppliers within five years. Together with other priority sites and completed highways, this is meant to create growth in all parts of the state.

The CDU wants to expand the High-Tech Park. Modern technology companies should settle there. This should happen within five years. The A14 and A143 highways should also be finished. Then new companies can come to the north as well.

The park is to grow through high-tech companies and their suppliers. The priority sites for business investment set out in the state development plan are added to this. The program treats completing the A14, the A143 and the other transport plan projects in the coming term as an overriding public interest. Better transport links are meant to enable new business sites and value creation in the north of the state.

The CDU wants to offer dependable conditions to all parts of the economy and keep support open to every sector and technology. It relies on continuity and on dialogue with companies, chambers, associations and trade unions.

The CDU wants to support all companies in the state. Support should be open to every sector. The state helps with investments and new ideas. Small companies get help with going digital. The CDU wants to talk with companies and unions about this.

Support rests on four pillars: investment, innovation, financing aid, and assistance for new and existing companies. The main tool is the joint federal-state program for improving regional economic structure (GRW), which backs investment in business premises, machinery and infrastructure. Small and mid-sized companies are to get help with technological change and digitalization. Startups and knowledge transfer with research institutions are also supported. Existing initiatives are to be continued and developed further.

The CDU wants to relieve companies of administrative work and make public procurement simpler, faster and digital. Small and mid-sized firms in particular are to get easier access to public contracts.

The CDU wants less paperwork for companies. Public contracts should be awarded more simply. This should be faster and digital. Small companies should get government contracts more easily.

The CDU sees cutting red tape as an ongoing task. The program points to the loosening of the state procurement law in fall 2025, which was meant to simplify procedures and speed up investment, especially under the Zukunftsinvestitionsgesetz (future investment act). According to the program, this benefits not only companies but also the mostly municipal bodies that carry out projects.

The CDU wants to update the state's tourism strategy and position Saxony-Anhalt as a destination for cultural travel and nature. Tourism funding is to be kept and expanded, funding rules simplified, and digital services extended.

The CDU wants more visitors to come to Saxony-Anhalt. The state should be known for culture and nature. Funding for tourism should stay and grow. The rules for getting funding should be simpler. Online booking and information should get better.

A new "Straße Anhalt" (Anhalt Route) is to link places, buildings, and cultural experiences, modeled on the "Straße der Romanik" (Romanesque Route). The state's investment and marketing company (IMG) and the state tourism association (LTV) are to be strengthened in organization and funding. Marketing rests on the Masterplan 2027 with a few lead products: UNESCO World Heritage, the Romanesque Route, Gartenträume, Himmelswege, and nature regions such as Harz National Park and the Blaues Band. World Heritage sites are to be better connected. Municipalities and providers are to get help with digital applications, and business investment in lodging and leisure offerings is to be supported so that guests stay longer.

The CDU wants to invest statewide in infrastructure for visitors, such as bike paths, public transit to popular destinations, digital networks, and visitor guidance. Tourist bike routes like the Elbe Cycle Route are to be used and promoted more.

The CDU wants to spend money on things for visitors across the state. This includes bike paths, buses and trains to popular places, and good internet. Guests should be able to travel easily and safely. The bike route along the Elbe river should become even better known.

Guests should be able to travel the state comfortably, with few barriers, and safely. Sustainable offerings, low-impact mobility, environmental education, and careful use of tourism infrastructure are to get more funding and be tested in pilot projects. For the Elbe Cycle Route, the CDU plans more exchange with the other regions along it, support for restaurants and cafés on the route, and advertising for sights along the way.