Freie Wähler: program for the 2025 federal election

The Free Voters want to make the economy internationally competitive again through lower costs, lower taxes and less red tape. Influence by the federal government and the EU on business decisions, which the party describes as ideological, should end.

The Free Voters want a stronger economy. Companies should pay less in taxes and costs. There should be less red tape. The party wants fewer rules from the Green Deal. That is the EU's climate plan.

The Free Voters want more targeted support for founders, especially in the growth phase, so that young companies do not move abroad. Innovation in the skilled trades and midsize businesses should also receive more support.

The Free Voters want to help new companies more. The federal government should support founders better. That way the companies stay in Germany. Skilled trades and smaller firms should also get help with new ideas.

The Free Voters want to relieve small and midsize businesses of red tape and taxes. They plan fewer documentation requirements and a reform of the Gewerbesteuer (local business tax) with higher allowances and graduated rates.

Small and midsize companies should have less paperwork. They should also pay less Gewerbesteuer. That is a tax companies pay to their town. This should help companies invest more and grow.

The Free Voters want to keep the Meisterpflicht (the requirement to hold a master craftsman certificate to run a trade business) and extend it to further sectors. To secure skilled workers, dual vocational training is to be strengthened and master craftsman and master's degrees valued equally.

In some trades, only a master craftsman may run a business. The Free Voters want to keep this and apply it to more trades. Training on the job should become more attractive. A master craftsman title should count as much as a university master's degree.

The Free Voters want to keep value creation and purchasing power in the regions and to promote regional companies and products. The federal government should fund regional management and advertise “Made in Germany” worldwide.

The Free Voters want stronger regions. People should buy more goods from their own area. That keeps jobs local. The federal government should give regions money for their own projects. It should also advertise German products.

The Free Voters want to repeal the Supply Chain Act for small and mid-sized companies and to stop the sustainability reporting initiated by the EU. In the platform's view, both create high costs and red tape and weaken competitiveness.

The Supply Chain Act makes companies check human rights at their suppliers. The Free Voters want to end this law for mid-sized companies. They also want to stop sustainability reports. The party says these rules cost companies too much time and money.

The Free Voters want basic services such as drinking water, education and health care to remain a public responsibility. The platform rejects any interference through trade agreements or EU law.

Some things everyone needs to live. These include drinking water, schools and doctors. The Free Voters want the state to stay in charge of them. Private companies should not take over these areas.

The Free Voters want to support local shops, regional products and food trades, and to ensure a level playing field between online and in-store retail. Parcel imports from Asia on which no taxes are paid are to be stopped.

The Free Voters want to support shops in city centers. Bakers, butchers and regional products should get help too. The party wants to stop parcels from Asia that come in without paid taxes. Shops and online sellers should have the same rules.

The Free Voters want tax relief for small and medium-sized businesses and the liberal professions, and fewer regulations. For every new burden, two old rules should be dropped. According to the platform, the goal is to reward effort and make investment easier.

The Free Voters want to help small companies. For every new rule, two old rules should go. Small companies should have less work with taxes. The tax return should become simpler.

The Free Voters want to make working-time rules fundamentally more flexible. A weekly maximum working time should apply instead of a daily one, as permitted by the EU Working Time Directive.

Today there is a limit on working hours per day. The Free Voters want a limit per week instead. People can then arrange their work more freely. Health protection should stay in place.

The Free Voters want to fundamentally review and reform Bürgergeld (citizen's income) and drop the name. People able to work should be pushed more firmly toward work, and Ukrainians should no longer receive the benefit automatically.

The Free Voters want to change Bürgergeld. It should be called social assistance again. People who can work should work. Those who refuse suitable work should get less than sick people. Ukrainians should no longer get the money automatically.

The Free Voters want to make accessibility mandatory in public spaces and to support accessible construction with subsidies. Applications for inclusion measures should be possible digitally. The aim is full participation for people with disabilities.

People with disabilities should be able to take part everywhere. The Free Voters want public squares and pedestrian zones without obstacles. For example, there should be ramps and elevators. Those who build without obstacles should get money from the state. Applications should be possible online.

The Free Voters want to fund clubs and initiatives that work against loneliness. Access to leisure activities, volunteering and places to meet is meant to prevent isolation.

Many people feel alone. The Free Voters want to change that. Clubs should get money for meetups and shared projects. There should be more places where people can meet.

The Free Voters reject raising the retirement age and want to keep the pension level at 48 percent or above. Anyone who has paid contributions for 45 years should be able to retire without deductions. To guard against old-age poverty, the pension system should be fundamentally reformed and the Mütterrente (mothers' pension) raised and extended.

The Free Voters do not want to raise the retirement age. Pensions should not fall below 48 percent of the average wage. After 45 years of work, people should get a full pension. Mothers should get more pension. Nobody should be poor in old age.

The Free Voters want more flexible pension models that let people retire earlier or later depending on their circumstances. Retirees and retired civil servants should be allowed to earn up to 2,000 euros a month tax-free on top of their pension. This is meant to keep expertise in companies and ease the shortage of skilled workers.

People should decide for themselves when to retire. Retirees should be allowed to earn 2,000 euros a month extra. They should pay no tax on that. This keeps their knowledge in companies. Age limits for volunteer roles should be reviewed.

The Free Voters want to prevent pensions from being taxed twice. In their view, it is unfair for people who paid taxes during their working lives to be burdened again in old age. The state should do more to reward occupational and private retirement saving.

The Free Voters want no double tax on pensions. Many people already paid taxes while they worked. They should not pay again in old age. The state should also reward private saving for old age.

The Free Voters want to stop health and long-term care insurance contributions from being charged twice on direct insurance policies and company pensions. Those affected should also be compensated.

Some people save for old age through their employer. When the money is paid out, they pay health and care insurance contributions. The Free Voters call this paying twice. They want to end it. Affected people should get compensation.

The Free Voters demand that the agricultural social insurance, the statutory pension insurance, and the civil service pension scheme mutually recognize all pension-relevant periods. The aim is a fair assessment of a person's working life.

Germany has different old-age systems. There are systems for farmers, employees, and civil servants. The Free Voters want each system to accept time from the others. That way a person's whole working life counts.

The Free Voters want to merge the differing VAT rates of 19 and 7 percent into the lower rate. For food and drinks in restaurants, the tax would be cut permanently.

Today there are two tax rates on food: 19 percent and 7 percent. The Free Voters want only the lower rate. This should also apply to drinks in restaurants. The party wants to help restaurants and tourism this way.

The Free Voters want to roll back requirements imposed on small and mid-sized banks since 2008. They reject the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) for savings banks and cooperative banks.

Savings banks and cooperative banks have gotten many new rules since 2008. The Free Voters want to take these rules back. The EU plans a shared safety net for savings, called EDIS. The party rejects this for these banks.

The Free Voters want to keep the debt brake in the constitution and reject loosening it or using off-budget funds. For a few especially important projects, however, there should be an investment clause. This is meant to keep budget rules from blocking the country's modernization.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The Free Voters want to keep this rule. There should be an exception for a few very important projects. The state could set up a separate fund for them.

The Free Voters want to fundamentally reorganize how cities and towns are funded and reduce their legacy debts. The federal government should contribute. The platform attributes the situation to decades of underfunding.

Many cities and towns have too little money. The Free Voters want to change that. The old debts of towns should shrink. The federal government should help with this.

The Free Voters want income tax to start only at 24,000 euros a year instead of the current 11,784 euros. This is meant to make work pay more and widen the gap to people receiving benefits. Retirees and pensioners should also be allowed to earn 2,000 euros a month tax-free on top.

Today people pay income tax from about 11,800 euros a year. The Free Voters want to raise this limit to 24,000 euros. That is 2,000 euros a month without tax. This should make work pay more.

The Free Voters call for a fundamental reform of subsidies, which should be targeted and time-limited. Climate-damaging subsidies should be phased out. The party also wants to do more against wasteful spending and tax evasion.

Subsidies are government money for certain areas. The Free Voters want to check all subsidies regularly. Aid that harms the climate should end. The state should go after tax fraud more strongly.

The Free Voters want to abolish the tax on inheritances and gifts. This is meant to protect family businesses and property built up over generations. In the party's view, working and saving should not be penalized.

Today people who inherit a lot or get large gifts pay tax on it. The Free Voters want to abolish these taxes. The party wants to protect family companies this way. Savings should stay in the family.

The Free Voters want to develop concepts for affordable, age-appropriate housing. As examples they name a grant for building projects that allow several generations to live together, plus subsidies for barrier-free housing.

Many people need a different home when they get old. The Free Voters want affordable solutions for this. People who build homes for young and old should get money. There should also be grants for homes without barriers.

The Free Voters want to bring rents down in high-demand regions by building more housing. To do so, building regulations are to be relaxed, social housing given more funding and cooperatives supported. The party rejects a rent cap because, in its view, it deters investment.

Rents are high in many cities. The Free Voters want to build more homes. Building rules should become simpler. There should be more money for social housing. The party does not want a rent cap. A rent cap is a fixed limit on rents.

The Free Voters want to expand protection for tenants. Municipalities are to receive earmarked funds to offer their own tenant protection modeled on Munich. The background, in the party's view, is that many social housing units will soon lose their rent restrictions.

The Free Voters want to protect tenants better. Towns and cities should get money for this. With it they can help tenants, as Munich does. Tenants should be able to fight rents that are too high.

The Free Voters want more people to live in a home they own. To that end, they want to bring back the Eigenheimzulage (a home buyer subsidy), strengthen rent-to-own models, and lower the real estate transfer tax. The platform argues that home ownership protects against poverty in old age and makes the country more resilient.

The Free Voters want more people to own their home. The state should again give money to home buyers. The tax on buying land should go down. People with little money should also be able to own a home.

The Free Voters want to keep city and village centers livable and stop their decline. They call for more money for urban development and village renewal programs and for broader use of Milieuschutz (rules protecting a neighborhood's residents from displacement).

The Free Voters want lively city and village centers. The state should spend more money on them. They also want more Milieuschutz. That means rules that protect people in a neighborhood from being pushed out.

The Free Voters call for the Neue Wohngemeinnützigkeit (a new non-profit housing scheme) to be put into practice quickly. Under such a scheme, landlords receive benefits if they offer permanently affordable housing. The platform argues that the housing market will not improve without new instruments.

The Free Voters want a new non-profit housing scheme soon. Landlords get benefits if they keep rents low for good. The party says housing is getting harder to find. So new tools are needed.

The Free Voters want self-employed women to be financially covered during pregnancy and after birth as well. A mechanism is to be created in which the costs are shared collectively, as they are for employees. Women who run a business should not have to choose between their company and a family.

Employed women have maternity protection. Self-employed women do not have it today. The Free Voters want to change that. Everyone should share the costs, as is done for employees.

The Free Voters call for more affordable and flexible daycare places, including early and late hours. According to the platform, a lack of childcare keeps many women out of paid work and later leads to pension gaps. For that reason, child-rearing periods should also count more toward pensions.

The Free Voters want more daycare places. The places should be affordable. They should also be open early and late in the day. This makes it easier for mothers to work. People who raise children should get a higher pension later.

The Free Voters want to create a family center in every municipality that families in crisis can turn to. In addition, more short-term care places for children are to be created to relieve families in emergencies.

Some families go through a crisis. The Free Voters want to help them. Every town should get a family center. People can get advice there easily. In an emergency, children should also be able to stay somewhere else for a short time.

The Free Voters want to better protect children and adolescents from violence, drugs, extremism and manipulation on social media, mainly through education in schools and local reporting points. Child marriages concluded abroad are not to be recognized in Germany, without exception. For the party, protecting the child ranks above the parents' freedom of religion.

The Free Voters want to protect children better. Schools should teach about dangers. There should be local places where people can report problems. Marriages with children from abroad should not count in Germany. For the party, protecting children matters more than the parents' religion.

The Free Voters want to put vocational and academic education on an equal legal footing and make first-time training free of charge as a rule. A continuing education drive is meant to counter the shortage of skilled workers.

The Free Voters say an apprenticeship is worth as much as a university degree. They want this written into law. A person's first training should cost nothing. Adults should also get more help to keep learning.

The Free Voters want to support children individually but reject lowering performance requirements. Education is to remain a matter for the states, with the federal government helping, including financially. Every child should have the same opportunities regardless of background, and the school system should allow students to move up.

The Free Voters want to support every child well. But school standards should not go down. The states should stay in charge of schools. The federal government should help them with money. All children should have the same chances.

The Free Voters want to tackle staff shortages in daycare centers and schools. Recruitment programs, paid and better-paid training, and more attractive working conditions for teachers are meant to help. Training and university studies are to be tied more closely to practice.

Daycare centers and schools lack trained staff. The Free Voters want to win more people for these jobs. All training should be paid. Teachers should have less paperwork. Students should get practical experience early.

The Free Voters want closer support for children with a harder start. The platform provides for education guides, early language support for children from immigrant families, programs to close learning gaps from the COVID period, and social work at all schools. Special-needs schools and daycare centers are to be kept and expanded.

Some children have a harder time at school. The Free Voters want to help them more. Education guides should support children and parents. Children from immigrant families should learn German early. All schools should have social workers.

The Free Voters want to use artificial intelligence in the classroom and upgrade schools both physically and digitally. At the same time, curricula are to teach media literacy and critical thinking, since the party views the digital world's influence on young people with concern.

The Free Voters want to use AI in class. AI means artificial intelligence, computer programs that learn. Schools should get better buildings and technology. Students should learn to check information. They should use digital media responsibly.

The Free Voters support expanding all-day schools but want to review the timeline for the legal entitlement to all-day care in elementary school. The platform cites the strained finances of many municipalities as the reason.

From August 2026, elementary school children gradually get a right to all-day care. The Free Voters like all-day schools. But many cities and towns have little money. So the party wants to check the timeline again.

The Free Voters want BAföG (federal student aid) to be paid regardless of parents' income and want to simplify the application. The scholarship system is also to be opened to more students. The aim is for all students to get the financial support they need.

BAföG is money from the state for students. Today it depends on what the parents earn. The Free Voters want to change that. Applying should be easier. More students should be able to get a scholarship.

The Free Voters want more reliable career paths for academics below the rank of professor. The platform criticizes that most of them are on fixed-term contracts and sees this as harmful to Germany as a research location.

Many researchers at universities only have temporary contracts. The Free Voters want to change that. Researchers should be able to plan their careers better. The party says insecure jobs hurt research in Germany.

The Free Voters want to introduce so-called Bildungsjoker. These are vouchers that parents can use to pay for tutoring, music and sports classes or other educational offerings for their children. The goal is more equal opportunity regardless of social background.

The Free Voters want to introduce an education voucher. Parents get this voucher. They can use it to pay for tutoring, for example. Music and sports classes are also possible. This should give all children the same chances.

The Free Voters call for more and regular physical education that must not be the first thing canceled when staff are short. Schools would cooperate with sports clubs and get suitable rooms.

Schools should offer more PE classes. Classes should not be canceled so often. This also goes for swimming. Schools should work together with sports clubs.

The Free Voters want to overhaul the structure of social insurance and add new provision components. Private health insurers, employers' liability insurance associations, and civil servants' health subsidies (Beihilfe) would in future share the standby costs of medical facilities.

The Free Voters want to rebuild social insurance. There should be new ways to save for care. Hospitals have costs even when no patient is there. Private health insurers should help pay these costs. Today only public insurers and the state pay them.

The Free Voters want to reform statutory long-term care insurance so that the share paid by people in need of care is graduated by social criteria and capped. Nursing home residents should not have to rely on welfare because of rising costs.

People in nursing homes pay part of the cost themselves. This part is rising fast. Some residents then need welfare. The Free Voters want an upper limit on this part. People with little money should pay less.

The Free Voters want to secure nationwide medical care in cities and rural areas, including emergency care, ambulance services, and hospitals. Telemedicine, closer cooperation between outpatient and inpatient care, and pilot projects are meant to help.

Doctors, hospitals, and ambulances should be easy to reach everywhere. That includes the countryside. The Free Voters want to expand emergency care. They want more treatment by video and phone. Doctors' offices and hospitals should work together better.

The Free Voters want to reduce documentation requirements in health care so that more time is left for patients. In the future, only deviations from the standard case would have to be recorded with a reason.

Doctors and nurses have to write down a lot. That time is missing for patients. The Free Voters want fewer rules about writing things down. Only exceptions should be noted. Computer programs with artificial intelligence should help.

The Free Voters want to stop the further spread of investor-operated medical care centers (iMVZ). They call for statutory regulation and want to strengthen the independence of doctors' decisions.

Some doctors' offices belong to investors who want profit. These offices often form chains. The Free Voters see this as a danger for care. They want a law with rules for such offices. Doctors should decide independently.

The Free Voters want a fundamental reform of the system of Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and want fees paid according to actual services without caps. Independent health professions are to be strengthened through updated fee schedules, support for opening practices, and less red tape.

The Free Voters want to support doctors with their own offices. Doctors should be paid for all services, with no upper limit. People who open or take over an office should get help. This matters most in areas with few doctors. Older doctors should get bonuses if they work longer.

The Free Voters want to strengthen nationwide coverage by local pharmacies and raise the fixed pharmacy fee. They want to ban mail-order sales of prescription drugs because, in their view, foreign mail-order sellers distort competition.

The Free Voters want to support pharmacies close to home. Pharmacies should get more money per medicine. People should no longer order prescription drugs by mail. The party says foreign mail-order pharmacies face fewer checks.

The Free Voters want to sharply reduce dependence on drug manufacturers outside Europe. In their view, Germany should again be able to supply itself with medicines.

Many medicines come from China and India. The Free Voters want to change that. Germany should make its own medicines again. The country should depend less on others.

The Free Voters want to make nursing more attractive through more autonomy, graduated qualification levels, and matching pay. In the short term, trained assistants would take on more tasks and other occupational groups would be recognized as qualified nurses.

Germany lacks many nurses. The Free Voters want to make the job more attractive. Nurses should be allowed to decide more on their own. People from similar jobs should also be able to work as qualified nurses. Hands-on training should get better.

The Free Voters want to give family caregivers more support: low-bureaucracy help, financial compensation, and credit for caregiving time toward their pension. Counseling and caregiving courses should be comprehensive and free.

Many people care for relatives at home. The Free Voters want to help them more. They should get money for this care. Caregiving time should count toward their pension. Caregiving courses should be free.

The Free Voters want to preserve hospitals and emergency care close to where people live. To that end, the hospital reform is to be substantially revised and hospital funding secured. The federal government is to share in keeping municipal hospitals open.

The Free Voters want to keep hospitals close to people's homes. Emergency care should be easy to reach. The hospital reform should be changed a lot. The federal government should help towns and cities pay for their hospitals.

The Free Voters regard vaccinations as an important preventive tool and want to strengthen counseling by family doctors. They reject compulsory vaccination because, in their view, it would damage trust in the health care system.

The Free Voters think vaccines are important. Family doctors should give even better advice about vaccines. The party is against forcing people to get vaccinated. It says forcing people would hurt their trust.

The Free Voters want to guarantee care around pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period everywhere. They call for funding for maternity wards, support for birth centers and more university places for midwives. Couples seeking fertility treatment and pediatric practices are also to get more support.

The Free Voters want good care around birth. There should be maternity wards and midwives everywhere. Hospitals should get money for this. There should be more places to study midwifery. Couples who want a child should get money and advice.

The Free Voters want all citizens to be required to state whether or not they are willing to donate organs. The declaration is to be made at a uniform occasion and stored in a central register. This is meant to increase donations and relieve relatives.

Many people are waiting for a donor organ. The Free Voters want a mandatory declaration. This means everyone must say whether they want to donate organs or not. This could happen when applying for an ID card. A doctor should give good information first.

The Free Voters want seriously ill and dying people to be cared for with dignity. To that end, palliative medicine is to be strengthened, mobile teams supported and volunteer hospice workers given better financial support.

The Free Voters want good care for dying people. Palliative medicine should be strengthened. This is medicine that eases suffering when a cure is no longer possible. Mobile teams should get more support. Hospice volunteers should get more money.

The Free Voters regard addiction as an illness and want to expand prevention and support services. For alcohol, tobacco and medications they call for warning labels and a sales license for stores. In addition, people should be able to have drugs anonymously tested for their contents.

The Free Voters say addiction is an illness. Addicted people need help and are not criminals. There should be more education and more counseling. Stores should need a license to sell alcohol and tobacco. A license is a permit from the government.

The Free Voters want to expand prevention, education and counseling on mental illness, especially for children and young people and in the workplace. Crisis services for mental health emergencies are to be available everywhere. No one should have to feel ashamed to seek help.

More and more people have mental illnesses. The Free Voters want more counseling and help. There should be crisis services everywhere. Companies should do more for their workers' mental health. No one should feel ashamed to get help.

The Free Voters want refugees to be able to finish their vocational training and then work for two years before their residence status is reassessed. This is meant to give businesses planning certainty.

Some refugees are doing vocational training. The Free Voters want them to be allowed to finish it. After that they should be able to work for two years. Only then does the state check again whether they may stay.

The Free Voters call for a joint European border force that secures the entire EU external border and turns back irregular migration. Until that works, the Federal Police are to turn people back at Germany's borders.

The Free Voters want a shared border force for Europe. It should protect the outer borders of the EU. All EU countries should pay for it. Until this works, the Federal Police should turn people back at German borders.

The Free Voters consider the Dublin system a failure and want it revised. They reject distributing refugees among EU states; instead, direct returns and refusals of entry should come first.

The Dublin rules say which EU country handles an asylum claim. The Free Voters want to change these rules. Refugees should not be shared out among EU countries. They should rather be sent back. Germany should make its rules stricter.

The Free Voters want to prevent people from drowning in the Mediterranean while having those rescued taken back while still at sea where possible. Private sea rescue is to be placed under EU border protection command or stopped.

No one should drown in the Mediterranean. Smuggler boats should not set out at all. Rescued people should be taken back quickly. Private rescue ships should follow EU border guards. Otherwise they should no longer be allowed to operate.

The Free Voters want immigration to follow the needs of European countries and to recruit workers in a targeted way. Integration is to follow the principle of support paired with obligations.

The Free Voters want immigration based on need. People should come for certain jobs. Immigrants should learn German. They should accept democracy. The state should support them in this.

The Free Voters want to prevent EU freedom of movement from leading to immigration into the German welfare system. Travel by non-EU benefit recipients is to be registered, and asylum seekers who voluntarily travel home would permanently lose their entitlements.

The Free Voters want less abuse of welfare benefits. A register should record trips by non-EU citizens who get benefits. Some asylum seekers travel to their home country by choice. They should then get no more support. This should apply forever.

The Free Voters demand that people classified as security threats and refugees who have committed crimes be deported or detained immediately. Anyone who commits serious or repeated offenses is to be made to leave Germany quickly.

Some people are seen by police as a serious threat. The Free Voters want to deport or lock them up at once. This should also apply to refugees who commit crimes. Some cannot be deported. They should be held in deportation detention.

The Free Voters want to write naturalization rules into the Basic Law so they can only be changed by a two-thirds majority. Naturalization would be possible after seven years at the earliest, and dual citizenship with non-EU countries would remain the exception.

The Free Voters want stricter rules for German citizenship. People should get it after 7 years at the earliest. They need good German for this. Two passports should be rare. The rules should be in the constitution.

The Free Voters want asylum applications examined in centers beyond the EU's external borders, where applicants stay during the procedure. In addition, the EU is to conclude readmission agreements with countries of origin jointly. The platform calls fast procedures and the return of rejected asylum seekers essential.

The Free Voters want asylum requests checked outside the EU. There should be centers there for this. People wait there for the decision. The EU should pay for the centers. The EU should also make deals with home countries. Then rejected people can return more easily.

The Free Voters want asylum to be claimable only in the first safe third country, and thus generally not in Germany. Anyone entering illegally or with smugglers would be barred from permanent residence. Legal entry routes are to be created for recruited immigrants to undercut the smugglers' business.

The Free Voters want to fight smugglers. Smugglers take people across borders illegally for money. People who enter illegally should not be allowed to stay for good. People should only ask for asylum in the first safe country. That is usually not Germany. There should be legal ways for recruited people.

The Free Voters want no woman to be punished for ending her pregnancy. Mandatory pregnancy conflict counseling is to remain in place. At the same time, access to safe medical care is to be available everywhere and without discrimination.

No woman should be punished for an abortion. That is what the Free Voters want. Counseling before an abortion should stay mandatory. Women should find safe medical care everywhere. Paid advertising for abortions should stay banned.

The Free Voters want to raise the standing of occupations in which mostly women work and to narrow the gender pay gap. They also want more women in leadership roles and political office. The platform notes that women earn 18 percent less than men on average.

Women earn less than men on average. The Free Voters want to change this. Jobs done mostly by women should get more respect and better pay. More women should become bosses. More women should also take part in politics.

The Free Voters want to revise the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (Self-Determination Act) in the next legislative term. They accept the right to recognition of one's gender identity but say the law does not balance it properly with women's rights and child protection in every area.

The Self-Determination Act sets rules for changing a person's legal gender. The Free Voters want to change this law. They say the law pays too little attention to women's rights and child protection. The rights of trans people should still remain.

The Free Voters want to reform the Prostitution Act in order to combat forced prostitution and human trafficking. In the platform's view, the current law and weak oversight encourage these abuses.

Some people are forced into prostitution. The Free Voters want to stop this. To do so, they want to change the Prostitution Act. They say today's law and today's checks are not enough.

The Free Voters want to create a government coordination office that pools efforts against violence toward women and girls. Support services and awareness campaigns are to be expanded. The platform justifies this with a sharp rise in violence and with the Istanbul Convention.

Many women and girls suffer violence. The Free Voters want a new government office to fight this. The office collects data and brings agencies together. There should be more help and more information. Police and courts should get training on this.

The Free Voters want to rehabilitate people convicted under the former criminal provisions against homosexuality. Health care for trans people is to improve through more expertise at agencies and in medical training. The platform also affirms the diversity of family forms.

In the past, gay men were punished in Germany. The Free Voters want to recognize this injustice. Trans people should get better medical care. Doctors should learn more about this. Nobody should be treated unfairly in nursing homes either.

The Free Voters want transport, housing, schools, cultural venues and health care facilities to be usable without barriers for people with disabilities. A nationwide hotline would answer questions about inclusion quickly.

The Free Voters want fewer barriers for people with disabilities. Buses, trains and taxis should work for everyone. The same goes for doctors' offices, museums and theaters. A phone number should help with questions.

The Free Voters want to support companies that employ people with disabilities in regular jobs. Assistance services would be easier to apply for, those affected would have more say, and guardians would get more leeway.

More people with disabilities should get regular jobs. Companies should get help for this. Everyday assistance should be easier to apply for. People affected should have more say in decisions.

The Free Voters want to write protection of the recognized national minorities into the Basic Law, Germany's constitution. They also want to promote Jewish life and take action against antisemitism.

Germany has recognized minorities. They include Danes, Frisians, Sorbs, and Sinti and Roma. The Free Voters want to protect them in the constitution. The party also wants to support Jewish life.

The Free Voters want to amend the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and continue feed-in payments for electricity from bioenergy over the long term. Biogas production should grow. The platform calls bioenergy indispensable because it can supply power continuously.

Bioenergy is energy from plants and waste. The Free Voters want to keep paying support for this energy. There should be more biogas. But farmers should still grow enough food.

The Free Voters want to cut electricity costs for households substantially and secure supply with about 20 gigawatts of additional power plant capacity, mainly hydrogen-ready gas plants. Climate measures should not place a disproportionate burden on households or small and mid-sized businesses.

Electricity is very expensive in Germany. The Free Voters want it to be cheaper. They want to build new gas power plants. These deliver power when there is no wind or sun. Climate protection should not hit people with little money too hard.

The Free Voters want to change how the Gebäudeenergiegesetz (building energy act) rates buildings so that construction materials, building work and disposal also count. They stand by the goal of climate neutrality, but a fixed target year should not be untouchable if the burdens become too high.

Today, what counts for buildings is mostly how much energy they use. The Free Voters also want to count the building materials. Wood should be rated better than concrete. Older people should not lose their home because of costly rules. The year for climate neutrality should be movable.

The Free Voters favor decentralized supply from renewable sources in which municipalities and citizens have a stake. Local heating grids with a monopoly position should not be privatized, and cooperatives of connected customers should get special support.

Energy should be produced locally, for example from wind and sun. Towns and citizens should share in the earnings. Heating grids should not go to private companies. Citizens should be able to join together and invest in heating grids themselves.

The Free Voters want the power system to follow supply more closely: when electricity is plentiful, the price should fall so that consumption shifts. To that end they call for flexible rates, grid fees that reflect who causes the costs, more storage and bidirectional charging.

When there is a lot of electricity, it should be cheap. Then it pays to use power at that time. The Free Voters want more power storage. Electric cars should also be allowed to feed power back into the grid. This is called bidirectional charging.

The Free Voters want base-load power to become climate-neutral as soon as possible. All forms of renewable generation, including biogas and biomass, are to be expanded. The party also counts on hydrogen and on further scientific development of nuclear power and nuclear fusion.

Germany always needs a basic amount of electricity. This should soon be produced without harming the climate. The Free Voters want more biogas and biomass for this. They also want research on hydrogen, nuclear power and nuclear fusion.

The Free Voters want to push the market ramp-up of hydrogen and plan power, heat and gas grids together. Gas pipelines should not be dismantled. Hydrogen is to be used wherever it makes the most technical and economic sense, including in transport.

Hydrogen is a gas that can store energy. The Free Voters want to make it usable faster. Gas pipelines should stay, because they can carry hydrogen later. The power grid and the gas grid should be planned together.

The Free Voters want to cushion the effects of the coal phase-out on lignite regions and compensate for them ecologically and financially. Research and innovation funding are meant to turn these regions into climate pioneers.

Germany is ending the use of coal. This hits the coal regions hard. The Free Voters want to help these regions. More research should happen there. This should bring new companies.

The Free Voters commit to the obligations of the Paris climate agreement. They want to achieve climate and environmental protection mainly through innovation and, as far as possible, without levies and bans, while always taking social effects into account.

The Free Voters stand by the Paris climate agreement. They want to protect the climate mainly with new technology. They want to avoid bans and new charges where they can. Climate protection should stay affordable for everyone.

The Free Voters want the state to take climate consequences into account when it aids companies. The platform rejects bailing out airlines with taxpayer money as clinging to old structures.

The state sometimes helps companies with money. The Free Voters want it to consider the climate when it does. The state should not simply rescue airlines. That is the party's view.

The Free Voters see both opportunities and risks in underground CO2 storage (CCS). Before any project, they demand expert assessments, public participation and the consent of the federal state concerned.

The gas CO2 can be pressed underground. The Free Voters see chances and dangers in this. Experts should check each project first. Citizens should have a say. The state must agree.

The Free Voters want to reduce the wolf population and allow wolves to be hunted under uniform nationwide rules. They justify this with a growing number of attacks on grazing animals. Damage caused by wolves, bears, or lynx should be compensated without any cap.

The Free Voters want fewer wolves in Germany. Hunters should be allowed to hunt wolves under the same rules everywhere. The party says wolves kill more and more sheep and cattle. Farmers should get the full damage paid back.

The Free Voters reject the planned revision of the Federal Forest Act because they see too many detailed rules in it. The states should keep leeway for their own forest management. The existing hunting system with hunting cooperatives and hunting districts should stay unchanged.

There are plans for a new law on forests. The Free Voters are against it. They think the law has too many rules. The rules for hunting should also stay as they are today.

The Free Voters want to reduce noise and air pollution near airports, roads and rail lines. Driving bans are to be avoided through innovation, and enforcing existing rules is to take priority over tougher laws.

Near roads, rail lines and airports it is often loud and the air is bad. The Free Voters want to change that. But they want to avoid driving bans. The state should first check whether everyone follows today's rules.

The Free Voters want effective groundwater protection and want the water supply to stay in public hands. Wastewater treatment plants that cover their own energy needs would receive support.

Clean drinking water matters to everyone. The Free Voters want to protect groundwater. Private companies should not take over the water supply. Treatment plants should make their own power.

The Free Voters call for a federal funding program for basins that hold back rainwater. They also want cities to be planned with more green space and less land use so that they heat up less.

The Free Voters want federal money for rain basins. These basins collect rainwater. This should mean fewer floods. Cities should get more green areas. Then they stay cooler in summer.

The Free Voters want to ban microplastics in cosmetics, food and water and to promote sustainable alternatives. They also want to work nationally and internationally to protect the seas.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic. The Free Voters want to ban them. This applies to cosmetics, food and water. The party also wants to protect the seas better.

The Free Voters want to quickly implement the right to repair proposed by the EU Commission and make products easier to recycle. Plastic waste, electronic scrap and scrap cars should no longer be exported but processed within Europe.

The Free Voters want a right to repair. Broken devices should be easier to fix. A label should show how well that works. Plastic waste and old devices should stay in Europe.

The Free Voters aim for a Germany without animal testing and want to further develop cell cultures as a substitute. They also want to protect native nature and biodiversity.

The Free Voters want no more tests on animals. Researchers should work with cells in the lab instead. The party also wants to protect animals and plants in Germany.

The Free Voters want farmland treated as an equally protected asset and want to prevent obligations to set land aside. When farmland is sold, owner-run farms would get priority, and the party opposes speculation with capital from outside agriculture.

Fields and meadows should be there for food. The Free Voters want to protect them better. Farmers should not be forced to leave land unused. When farmland is sold, farmers should get the first chance to buy.

The Free Voters want to allow fertilizing according to what plants need, including in so-called red zones with fertilizer restrictions. They reject a blanket EU ban on pesticides in sensitive areas.

In some areas farmers may use only a little fertilizer. These are called red zones. The Free Voters want to allow more fertilizer there when plants need it. The party rejects a general ban on pesticides in sensitive areas.

The Free Voters want imported farm products to meet the same standards as domestic ones. Competitive disadvantages against imports would continue to be offset through EU direct payments.

Germany has strict rules for farmers. The Free Voters want food from abroad to meet these rules too. Farmers should keep getting money from the EU to make up for disadvantages. No rainforest should be destroyed for imports.

The Free Voters want to reduce administrative and record-keeping duties for farms and to merge inspections. The uniform European rules should be the benchmark, and the states should use regional leeway when implementing them.

Farmers have to fill out many forms and are inspected often. The Free Voters want to reduce this. Germany should not make stricter rules than the EU. The states should be able to adapt rules to their region.

The Free Voters want to exempt agricultural diesel from tax and allow farms to be handed over without inheritance tax. A tax-privileged risk reserve would cushion income losses from natural and climate risks.

Farmers should pay less tax. Diesel for tractors should be tax-free. Anyone who inherits a farm should pay no tax on it. Farmers should be able to save money tax-free for bad years.

The Free Voters want to make agriculture more resilient through new breeding lines, practice-oriented research and digital technology. They reject patents on plants and animals and want to promote training in the agricultural professions.

The Free Voters want to support new plant varieties that cope better with the weather. Farmers should get good internet and free satellite data. There should be no patents on plants and animals. More young people should train for a job in farming.

The Free Voters want to secure livestock farming in Germany and provide financial support for investments in better husbandry conditions. They reject rules that push the production of animal-based food abroad. They also want to allow more organic fertilizer on grassland again.

The Free Voters want farmers in Germany to keep animals. Farmers should get money when they improve their barns for animals. Livestock farming should not move to other countries. More manure should be allowed on meadows.

The Free Voters want to improve farmers' position against food retailers and stop certain trading practices. According to the platform, four large corporations use their market power to push down purchase prices. Direct sales and regional processing should also be supported.

Four big companies sell most of the food in Germany. The Free Voters say these companies pay farmers too little. The party wants to ban unfair deals. Farmers should be able to sell their goods themselves more easily.

The Free Voters want to preserve commercial fishing on the coast and inland waters and provide targeted support for pond farming. They reject bans on angling. The platform sees fishing and angling as part of culture and tradition.

The Free Voters want to keep the job of fishers alive. Fish ponds should get funding. Anglers should be allowed to fish in many waters. The party rejects bans for anglers.

The Free Voters want less food to be thrown away. Best-before dates should count only as a recommendation, free-food shelves should be promoted, and effective crop protection products approved.

The Free Voters want less food to end up in the trash. The best-before date should only be a recommendation. There should be shelves with free food. Products against pests should be allowed.

The Free Voters want to expand local public transit and cycling and settle how they are funded. The Deutschlandticket (nationwide transit pass) should stay, but municipalities should not have to cover its deficit. The party rejects bans on or subsidies for individual drive technologies.

The Free Voters want more buses, trains, and bike paths. The Deutschlandticket should continue. Cities and towns should not have to pay extra for it. Dogs should ride for free with the ticket.

The Free Voters reject the EU-wide phase-out of new combustion engine cars from 2035 and call for openness to all technologies instead. They fear that technology and production would otherwise leave Germany. They also oppose fines that carmakers would owe the EU for missing CO2 fleet targets.

From 2035, the EU wants no new cars with combustion engines to be sold. The Free Voters are against this. They say factories would move abroad. Carmakers should also not have to pay fines to the EU.

The Free Voters want to fund research and development across all drive types, from e-fuels and hydrogen to electric mobility. Steering is to happen through a reliable price on greenhouse gases via certificate trading rather than through bans.

The Free Voters want to support all clean ways to power vehicles. These include electricity, hydrogen, gas and synthetic fuels. There should be no bans. Those who harm the climate should pay a price for it.

The Free Voters want to use incentives and investment to move more freight from roads onto trains and ships. Freight routes are to be expanded and moved out of residential areas.

More goods should travel by train and ship instead of by truck. The Free Voters want to spend money on this. Freight trains should no longer run through neighborhoods. This applies above all to dangerous cargo.

The Free Voters back fast rail links between major European cities, with frequent service and night trains as an alternative to flying. A European transit network is to allow cross-border tickets and subscriptions. Europe is also meant to take the lead in hyperloop technology.

Fast trains should connect the big cities in Europe. There should also be night trains. Then fewer people need to fly. One ticket should work in several countries. The party also wants to support a new, very fast technology called hyperloop.

The Free Voters want to make it easier to bring disused rail lines in rural regions back into service. According to the platform, this could reconnect more than three million people to the rail network.

Many old rail lines in the countryside are closed. The Free Voters want to open them again. Then more people have a train station nearby. There should be enough money for this.

The Free Voters continue to oppose a toll on private car traffic in Germany. Their goal is toll-free private travel across all of Europe. To that end, roads important to the European network are to be funded jointly.

The Free Voters do not want a toll for private cars in Germany. A toll is a fee for driving on roads. Other European countries should not have one either. The countries of Europe should pay for important roads together.

The Free Voters want to end the privatization of transport infrastructure and treat it as a state task paid for by taxes. Existing roads, rail lines and above all crumbling bridges are to be repaired quickly, with more money and less red tape.

Roads, rail lines and bridges should belong to the state. The state should pay for them with taxes. Broken bridges should be repaired faster. There should be more money and less paperwork for this. The railway should get more staff.

The Free Voters want to create a separate digital ministry that takes the lead on the administration's digital projects. Public administration is to be fundamentally reformed, with digitalization and AI used across the board.

The Free Voters want a separate ministry for digital matters. It should make government offices digital. Citizens should be able to file applications online. Offices should also use artificial intelligence. Estonia is the model for this.

The Free Voters want to push ahead with broadband and mobile network coverage nationwide, especially in rural areas. At least as much money should go into digital villages as into digital cities.

The Free Voters want fast internet everywhere. This matters most for villages and small towns. Villages should get as much money for digital projects as cities. This should also help older people.

The Free Voters want sensitive data, such as data on water and energy supply, to be held only on systems inside the EU. Software from non-European companies should be reviewed in these areas, and open source should be preferred.

Important data should stay in Europe. This includes data about water and power. The Free Voters prefer open software there. With open software, anyone can see the program code. The data should be well protected.

The Free Voters demand legal rules for social media guided by youth protection and protection against objectively false information. Extremist communication and crimes on the internet are to be prosecuted more intensively. An overall strategy against cybercrime with more specialists and equipment is to be developed.

The Free Voters want new rules for social media. The rules should protect young people. They should also protect against false information. The state should go after online crimes more strongly. Agencies should get more experts and better technology.

The Free Voters want to support digital tools in health care when they improve care. The electronic patient record is to be voluntary, and no one should be disadvantaged because of their data or a refusal to share it. Health data is to receive special protection.

The Free Voters want to use digital tools in health care. The electronic patient record should be voluntary. People who do not share their data should not be worse off. Health data should get extra protection.

The Free Voters see Islamism as the biggest extremism problem and want Islamist associations banned and permanently monitored. The state is also to act firmly against right-wing and left-wing extremism, and the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) is to get considerably more staff.

The Free Voters want stronger action against extremism. Islamist associations should be banned. Authorities should watch Islamist preachers all the time. The domestic intelligence agency should get more staff. No one should use it for political purposes.

The Free Voters want more money for counterterrorism units and closer cooperation among European intelligence services. Security agencies are to have broad access to data to monitor dangerous individuals; data protection is to take a back seat for these groups.

The Free Voters want more money for anti-terror units. Intelligence services in Europe should work together better. Authorities should be able to use a lot of data on dangerous people. Data protection then counts less for these people. An independent office should check this.

The Free Voters want to expand overt video surveillance and allow municipalities to set up zones with full camera coverage. According to the platform, this strengthens the sense of security, deters offenders, and makes evidence in court easier.

The Free Voters want more video cameras in public places. Cities should be allowed to set up whole video zones. Signs should clearly show these zones. There must be other routes without cameras. Police may also film at demonstrations.

The Free Voters want to ban full-face veils and face coverings in public life. They argue that a visible face is needed for communication and identification and that veiling stands for separation and the oppression of women.

The Free Voters want a ban on full-face veils. Covering the face to hide should also be banned. People should show their face in daily life. The party says this helps people recognize each other. It sees the veil as a sign of the oppression of women.

The Free Voters want children under 14 to be open to prosecution for serious offenses. This is meant to stop criminal careers early and prevent clans and criminal families from using children to commit crimes.

Today children under 14 cannot be punished. The Free Voters want to change that. It should apply only to serious offenses. An expert and a judge check each case. Small thefts should also stay punishable.

The Free Voters want to expand courts and prosecutors' offices, digitize the justice system, and speed up criminal proceedings. A greater police presence and more funds for investigators are meant to restore trust in the rule of law.

The Free Voters want more staff for courts and prosecutors. The justice system should work digitally. Criminal cases should move faster. There should be more police on the streets. Citizens should trust the state more again.

The Free Voters want to give European security agencies such as Europol and Eurojust far broader powers. They call for tougher penalties and targeted checks against human trafficking. The platform argues that open borders have made the security situation more complicated.

The Free Voters want to fight criminal gangs across Europe. European agencies like Europol should be allowed to do more. People who traffic humans should get harsher punishment. Victims should get help.

The Free Voters want to replace the current cannabis rules based on home growing and growers' clubs. Instead, cannabis would be sold legally in licensed specialty shops. In the platform's view, the current approach has not pushed back the black market enough.

Today people can grow cannabis at home or get it in clubs. The Free Voters want to change that. Cannabis should only be sold in special shops. These shops need a license. This is meant to shrink illegal dealing.

The Free Voters stand behind police and emergency responders and reject blanket accusations against the police. At the same time, independent police commissioners are to be set up in every state. Service in the Federal Police is to become more attractive, and the states' police IT systems are to be standardized.

The Free Voters support police and rescue workers. Mistakes inside the police should be investigated fairly. Every state should get an independent police commissioner. Working for the Federal Police should become more attractive. Police everywhere should use the same computer systems.

The Free Voters reject a constitutional amendment that would allow more deployments of the Bundeswehr inside Germany. The tasks of police and military are to remain separate because only the police are trained for internal security. The platform considers the existing exceptions sufficient.

The army may only rarely be used inside Germany. The Free Voters want to keep it that way. The police are responsible for safety inside the country. There are exceptions, for example in disasters. The party says that is enough.

The Free Voters consider German gun law strict enough and want to partly reverse the most recent tightening. In the platform's view, it hits law-abiding hunters, sport shooters and citizens without protecting against criminals. Instead, illegal gun possession and violent crimes are to be punished in a more targeted way.

Gun rules were recently made stricter. The Free Voters want to take back part of that. They say the rules hit hunters and sport shooters for no reason. The state should rather punish illegal guns and violence. Guns should not have to be stored centrally in clubhouses.

The Free Voters want to strengthen civil protection and renew its buildings and equipment. Civilian shelters are to be set up again in a targeted way, with the federal government providing a plan and funding. The platform cites years of neglect and growing threats.

The Free Voters want to protect people better in disasters. There should be new equipment and stores of important goods. There should be regular drills again. The state should also build shelters again. Shelters are safe rooms for emergencies.

The Free Voters want to change the rules of cannabis legalization. They consider the amount allowed for personal use too high and the distances from schools too small. Limits for driving are to be based on scientific findings.

Cannabis is partly legal in Germany. The Free Voters want stricter rules. People should be allowed to carry less cannabis. The distance from schools should be larger. The police should be better able to act against dealers.

The Free Voters want rape to be punished almost as severely as murder. The statute of limitations is to rise to 30 years because, according to the platform, many victims can only speak about the crime decades later.

The Free Voters want tougher punishment for rape. The punishment should be almost as high as for murder. The time limit for prosecution should also be longer. After this time limit, nobody can be punished anymore. The limit should be 30 years.

The Free Voters want the federal government to hand new tasks to municipalities only together with the money needed to carry them out. Cities and towns should also have a stronger say in federal decisions.

The federal government often gives cities and towns new tasks. The Free Voters say the federal government must then pay for them. This rule is called connexity. Towns should also have more say in federal decisions.

The Free Voters want more direct democracy so that citizens can help decide important questions between elections as well. The federal president should in future be elected directly by the people.

The Free Voters want more referendums. In a referendum, citizens vote on a question themselves. This lets people have a say between elections too. Citizens should also elect the federal president themselves.

The Free Voters want to lower the five-percent threshold in federal elections to three percent so that fewer votes go unrepresented. The Grundmandatsklausel (the rule that three constituency wins secure entry) should be kept.

Today a party needs 5 percent of the votes to enter the Bundestag. The Free Voters want to lower this to 3 percent. Then more votes count. Winning three districts should also still be enough to get in.

The Free Voters want to set up a new independent body that reviews state interference with fundamental rights. According to the platform, such interference is necessary for security in individual cases but must be open to review.

The state sometimes limits basic rights. It does this for security. The Free Voters want a new office to check this. It is called the Bürgeranwaltschaft, a citizens' advocate office. Citizens can turn to it.

The Free Voters want to end the federal justice minister's power to give instructions to prosecutors so that politics cannot influence investigations. At the same time, dropping criminal cases is to become harder. A new citizens' advocate office would be able to review dropped cases and have them reopened.

Today the justice minister can give orders to prosecutors. The Free Voters want to end that. Politicians should not influence investigations. Prosecutors should not be able to drop cases so easily. A new office for citizens should check such cases.

The Free Voters want to relieve volunteers of red tape, adjust tax allowances regularly and count long-term engagement toward pensions. Time off from work and staffed support offices would make volunteering easier.

Many people help in clubs without pay. The Free Voters want to make their work easier. People who help for many years should get a higher pension. Advice offices should help clubs with applications.

The Free Voters reject shared debt among EU states. The EU should once again be barred from borrowing. The debt created through the recovery fund should end as quickly as possible.

The EU took on shared debt for an aid fund. The Free Voters want to end this. The EU should no longer be allowed to take on its own debt. Countries should not be liable for the debts of others.

The Free Voters want to deepen EU cooperation with its neighboring regions and promote reforms toward democracy, the rule of law and a market economy there. Accession negotiations with Turkey, by contrast, are to end for good. The platform names a privileged partnership as the new goal.

The EU should work more closely with its neighbor countries. It should promote democracy and the rule of law there. Turkey should not join the EU. The talks about joining should end forever. There should be a special partnership instead.

The Free Voters want the international community, led by the United Nations, to secure protection zones in crisis regions. Refugees would find safety and basic supplies there and would not have to flee onward to Europe. The zones are to be built up with development aid and protected militarily if necessary.

The Free Voters want safe areas in crisis countries. The United Nations should lead these areas. People who flee should find protection there. Schools, clinics and factories should be built there. Soldiers should protect the areas, including German ones.

The Free Voters want to keep supporting Ukraine, including with the most modern weapons technology, while preventing a direct war with Russia. Europe is to draw up diplomatic proposals for a peace plan. Europe should show strength toward Russia until it recognizes the sovereignty of all European states.

Russia attacked Ukraine. The Free Voters want to keep helping Ukraine. That includes modern weapons. They want to prevent a direct war with Russia. Europe should propose a plan for peace. Europe should act strong toward Russia.

The Free Voters want to permanently institutionalize coordination with France and build joint military structures in Europe. The United Kingdom is to receive a new European perspective, without special concessions. The relationship with the US and Canada is to be cultivated more strongly again as a special partnership.

Germany should work closely with France. Both countries should build shared military structures in Europe. There should be a new, fair partnership with the United Kingdom. The friendship with the US and Canada should also grow stronger.

The Free Voters regard Israel's existence and security as a fixed part of German foreign policy and want to support the country at every level. They justify this with a special German responsibility. The platform considers the recognition of a State of Palestine by some EU countries wrong.

The Free Voters stand firmly with Israel. Israel should be safe and continue to exist. Germany should help Israel in all areas. The party says Germany has a special responsibility here. Some EU countries have recognized Palestine as a state. The party thinks that is wrong.

The Free Voters want to rethink Middle East policy and no longer treat the two-state solution as a fixed premise. They regard Iran as a financier of terrorism that must be kept in check. At the same time, Germany should provide more humanitarian aid for Gaza, coordinated with Israel.

The Free Voters want to rethink policy on the Middle East. The two-state solution should no longer be a fixed rule. That is the idea of one state for Israel and one for the Palestinians. Iran should not get nuclear weapons. Germany should give more help to people in Gaza.

The Free Voters see China as an important trading partner but increasingly as a political and economic rival. They want to limit economic dependence and better protect national security and key technologies from Chinese influence. On Taiwan, they call for a peaceful solution through talks.

China is an important trading partner. But the Free Voters also see China as a rival. Germany should not depend too much on China. Important technology should be better protected. China should not threaten Taiwan with force.

The Free Voters want to tie India lastingly to the West through an economic and possibly military partnership. Cooperation with regional alliances on other continents should be deepened, partly as a counterweight to the BRICS states. The party wants to secure access to raw materials in partnership with the countries of origin.

The Free Voters want to bind India more closely to the West. There should be an economic partnership. Maybe a military one too. Germany should work more with alliances in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The party wants to secure raw materials fairly with supplier countries.

The Free Voters want to overhaul development policy: current practice should give way to interest-based programs for economic and educational cooperation. Strategic rivals and corrupt governments should no longer receive money. At the same time, Germany should permanently meet the 0.7 percent target, because the party says the funds help prevent flight and radicalization.

The Free Voters want to change development aid. Rivals of the EU should get no more money. Corrupt governments should get none either. Aid should also serve Germany's interests. Germany should keep giving 0.7 percent of its economic output.

The Free Voters commit to NATO's two percent target and want to exceed it temporarily. The special fund for the Bundeswehr should be doubled and funding raised to three percent of economic output until the armed forces are capable of defense again. Defenses against attacks in cyberspace should also be strengthened.

The Free Voters want more money for the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces. The special fund for the Bundeswehr should double. For some years, Germany should spend 3 percent of its economic output on the armed forces. The Bundeswehr should also get better at stopping attacks over the internet.

The Free Voters consider the Bundeswehr's procurement system dysfunctional and want to reform it. Arms projects and procurement should move to the European level to cut costs and ensure technological independence. Within NATO, Europe should cooperate more closely and take on a stronger role.

The Bundeswehr buys its equipment too slowly. The Free Voters want to change that. European countries should develop and buy weapons together. That should save money. Europe should become stronger inside NATO.

The Free Voters want Bundeswehr deployments tied to clear goals, timelines and ongoing review. They should serve only to keep or restore peace. Germany should no longer back UN programs that, in the party's view, benefit terrorism.

The Bundeswehr should only go on missions for peace. Every mission needs clear goals and a timeline. Politicians should check the missions again and again. The Free Voters say some UN programs help terrorists. Germany should stop paying for those.

The Free Voters want to make Bundeswehr service more attractive through modern equipment, good working conditions and stronger public backing. Soldiers and veterans with psychological injuries should get help faster. The party rejects raising the special retirement age for soldiers.

Soldiers should get good, modern equipment. Working for the Bundeswehr should become more attractive. Soldiers with mental wounds should get help quickly. They should be free to choose their therapist. Soldiers should not have to retire later.

The Free Voters call for a year of service for everyone, to be completed by women and men alike. Participants should be able to choose between the Bundeswehr, disaster relief, the fire service, other emergency organizations and social institutions. The party cites social cohesion and the armed forces' greater need for personnel.

The Free Voters want a year of service for everyone. Women and men should work for the community for one year. They can choose where they serve. For example in the Bundeswehr, the fire service or social care.

The Free Voters regard culture as part of basic public services and demand secure funding from the federal government. Funding should become easier to navigate, and tradition, customs and the cultural heritage of German expellees should be preserved.

The Free Voters want secure money for culture. The federal government should pay for it. The funding should be easier to understand. The party wants to keep traditions and customs.

The Free Voters support public broadcasting but want to give fee payers a say. They should elect the broadcasting councils and decide on programming, the fee and the directors, which is meant to limit the influence of political parties.

The Free Voters want to keep public broadcasters. But people who pay the fee should have a say. They should elect the broadcasting councils. These are the bodies that oversee the stations. Parties should have less influence there.

The Free Voters see grassroots sports as something that holds society together and call on all levels of government to support them. Sports should be open to all ages and social groups, including people with disabilities and people with a migration background.

The Free Voters want to support sports for everyone. Sports should be cheap or free. Clubs in rural areas should get help. People with disabilities should be able to join in too.

The federal government would provide elite sports with all necessary funds, with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) deciding how they are used. An independent elite sports agency would make funding simpler and more digital.

The federal government should pay well for elite sports. The sports association DOSB should hand out the money. A new agency should make funding simpler. Big sports events should be able to take place in Germany.

The Free Voters call for more state money to build, renovate and run municipal sports, cultural and swimming facilities, because the program says municipalities can no longer afford this. Significantly more instructors and coaches would also be trained.

Many towns have little money for pools and gyms. So the state should give more money for them. There should be swimming pools everywhere. More coaches should be trained too.

The Free Voters want esports to be classified as serving the public good and see it as a complement to traditional sports. The program considers large esports events worthy of support.

Esports means competing in computer games. The Free Voters want to treat esports clubs like other sports clubs. They should count as nonprofit. That gives the clubs tax benefits.