Freie Wähler on the economy

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 platform wants to noticeably relieve the working middle class and create new incentives for effort. The social market economy is to be strengthened. It calls for more business-friendly conditions with lower costs, lower taxes and less administrative burden. The party places economic goals above the European Green Deal and argues that prosperity and a stable democracy depend on a strong economy.

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.

In the platform's assessment, German startup funding lags behind internationally, so ideas born here are brought to market elsewhere. Germany should again become a leading location for founders. For midsize businesses, the party plans a network that strengthens knowledge exchange with research. Funding programs and practical help for digitalizing craft businesses are to be expanded. It wants to secure access to knowledge, skilled workers and capital for midsize firms.

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.

Public administration is to be modernized so that companies save time and money through digital processes and better-coordinated agencies. Unnecessary record-keeping duties are to be dropped quickly, and no new bureaucratic burdens are to be added. On top of that comes a tax reform in favor of small and midsize firms. For the local business tax, larger allowances and tiered rates are planned to encourage investment and growth.

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 platform commits to regulated professions and the dual training system and does not want to accept EU interference with that system. The master craftsman requirement should also apply to the cosmetics sector, for example. Education vouchers for master craftsman training are meant to counter the shortage of skilled workers. Career guidance in schools is to be expanded, and initial and continuing training in the trades specifically funded. A communications campaign is also meant to raise the standing of entrepreneurs and midsize companies.

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.

A “Kauf lokal” (buy local) campaign is meant to support regional businesses and products; in the party's view this secures jobs, strengthens municipal tax revenue and is easier on the environment and climate. Regional management at the county level should receive federal funds to carry out projects on its own responsibility and without outside consultants. Local suppliers and producers are to be supported in order to depend less on foreign partners. Targeted advertising in global markets is meant to shore up trust in 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 platform says it shares the basic aim of the Supply Chain Act but rejects the duties it places on mid-sized businesses. It argues that human rights, due diligence, complaint channels and reporting are already covered by other rules. The EU requirements on sustainability reporting are to be stopped because, in the party's view, they bring no adequate benefit.

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.

According to the platform, essential services should be under state control. It names water, education and medical care as examples. The party says it will resist attempts to open these areas to competition through trade deals or European law.

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 plan includes less red tape for local retailers and direct sellers and clear origin labeling for products. For in-store retail, the platform lists a training drive, promotion of the "Made in Germany" label, and funding programs and urban planning to revive city centers. Anyone evading taxes on imports would be punished and barred from further deliveries. The goods involved would be destroyed or sold for the benefit of the state.

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 revenue threshold for the small-business exemption would rise from 25,000 to 35,000 euros a year. Low-value assets could be written off immediately up to 3,500 euros. EU requirements would be implemented in Germany only to the minimum extent, and EU laws should be geared to small and medium-sized firms. Tax returns should become simpler through flat-rate allowances and digital procedures. The party also wants to give financial support to late-stage start-ups and promote more research investment.