Grüne on Europe

The Greens want to strengthen the European single market and add a deeper digital union and a common market for research and innovation. In the platform's view, Europe can only compete with the US and China through more cooperation.

The Greens want more teamwork in Europe. The EU's shared market should get stronger. Countries should also work more closely on digital matters and research. This should help Europe keep up with the US and China.

The platform describes the single market, with 450 million people and 17 trillion euros in economic output, as a historic achievement. A single market for research and innovation would link universities, research institutes and companies more closely across Europe. Shared research infrastructure and research agencies would boost competitiveness. The goal is to lead again in future technologies and thereby secure prosperity and jobs in Germany.

The Greens want to quickly complete the European capital markets and banking union and set up a strong EU supervisor for capital markets. According to the platform, inconsistent national rules hold back investment and make financing harder for companies.

In the EU, each country has its own rules for money markets. The Greens want shared rules for all of Europe. A strong EU office would watch over the markets. This should help companies get money more easily.

Contract law and insolvency law for financial market players would be aligned across Europe. Banks, insurers and other financial players would have to hold enough loss-absorbing equity to prevent financial crises. Small banks and financial firms would be relieved of fine-grained bureaucracy. The platform also names the underdeveloped European market for equity instruments and bonds as a problem that hurts smaller firms.

The Greens reject permanent fixed checks at borders within the EU, citing freedom of movement and the single market. Instead, the external borders are to be controlled under the rule of law and arrivals reliably registered, increasingly by European officers.

In Europe people can travel freely across borders. The Greens do not want constant checks there. Checks should take place at the EU's outer borders. The border agency Frontex should be watched more closely.

The platform treats protection of the external borders as a shared EU task. The border agency Frontex is to be developed in line with the rule of law and closely overseen by parliaments. It should take no part in operations that violate human rights. It should become easier to hold Frontex and national authorities accountable for legal violations, and those affected should get legal support.

The Greens want violations of the EU's basic values by member states to have consequences. In the rule-of-law procedure under Article 7, a qualified majority should be enough at every stage. EU funds are to be tied more closely to democracy and the rule of law.

Some EU countries do not follow the rules of democracy. The Greens want this to have consequences. The EU should be able to decide on this more easily. Such countries should get less EU money.

Article 7 allows a member state's rights to be suspended for serious violations; so far a key step requires unanimity. In the talks on the EU's multi-year budget, the Greens want stricter rules that go beyond today's conditionality mechanism. The rule-of-law dialogue is to be strengthened and civil society protected in a more targeted way across Europe.

The Greens want to give the European Parliament the right to propose laws itself. It should also decide on equal footing with the Council in all policy areas. According to the platform, the goal is an EU that is closer to citizens and more democratic.

Today the European Parliament cannot propose its own laws. The Greens want to change that. Parliament should have a say in every area. Citizens should have more of a voice in the EU.

In the future, some members would be elected through transnational lists, meaning lists that run in several countries at once. The European Citizens' Initiative and European citizens' forums are to be strengthened. This is meant to involve citizens more broadly and effectively.

The Greens want to enlarge the EU to stabilize its neighborhood and secure peace, freedom and prosperity in Europe. They back accession for the Western Balkan states, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, provided the criteria are met. In parallel, the EU is to be reformed so it can act more effectively.

Several countries want to join the EU. These include Ukraine and countries in the Balkans. The Greens support this. But the countries must meet the EU's rules.

Candidate countries that carry out real democratic reforms should get visible intermediate steps on the way to membership. Pro-European, democratic forces in Georgia and Serbia, for example, are to be supported, as are partners such as Armenia against destabilization by Russia. According to the platform, a democratic Turkey has a place in the EU, but new accession talks require a change of course on democracy, rule of law and minority protection. The Greens reject going it alone nationally and frequent German abstentions in Brussels.

The Greens want an EU constitutional convention to be convened, because several of their reform proposals require treaty changes. Their long-term vision is a Federal European Republic with its own constitution. Unanimous decisions are to be replaced by majority votes.

The Greens want to rebuild the EU. They want a constitutional convention. That is a meeting that writes new basic rules for the EU. In the end, the EU should be one federal state with its own constitution.

Majority voting is to apply in the common foreign and security policy as well. Where not all member states support reforms, the Greens want to move ahead through "enhanced cooperation," which remains open to every country. The party wants to advance the EU especially with France and Poland and points to the Weimar Triangle. A constitutional convention is to be called for the necessary treaty changes.

The Greens want a larger EU financial framework and new revenue sources of the EU's own. The money is to go more strongly into innovation, infrastructure and the climate-neutral transformation of the economy. The platform says joint European bonds have proven their worth.

The Greens want the EU to get more money. The EU should also have new income of its own. The money should go to new technology, roads and networks, and climate protection. The Greens think shared debt of EU countries is useful for this.

The next EU financial framework is to focus more on innovation and the economy's future viability. Infrastructure, Erasmus, research cooperation and a common asylum policy are to be strengthened, along with binding climate and nature targets and a social pillar. Revenue from European instruments should mostly flow into the EU budget. If the US stops implementing the global rules on taxing big digital companies, the Greens want a European digital corporation tax. Access to EU funding is to become easier for civil society and businesses.