Linke on the economy

The Left wants to attach conditions to state aid for companies. Firms that receive public money should give the state ownership stakes and influence, and make environmental and social commitments.

Some companies get money from the state. The Left wants conditions for that. The state should then get shares in the company. It should also have a say. Companies should promise jobs and wages.

The platform cites Salzgitter AG as a model, where the state of Lower Saxony holds a blocking minority. Influence is to be exercised, among other ways, through transformation councils in which works councils, chambers, and municipalities shape the transition. Subsidized companies are to meet environmental standards for processes, products, and their overall footprint, for example in steelmaking. Binding commitments on employment, workers' rights, and wages are also required.

The Left wants to reclassify former port land in the Industriehafen and the Hemelingen port as commercial zones so that its use can be better controlled. Heavily burdened districts such as Oslebshausen are to receive targeted compensation measures.

Bremen's west has a lot of noisy businesses. The Left wants more control over this. Old port land should become normal commercial zones. The city should buy this land. Burdened districts should get something in return.

The program argues that commercial use on port land can hardly be regulated through building law. The city is to buy the affected land where possible and then lease it out long-term. The party expects the completion of the A 281 ring road to bring more disruptive businesses to the west. For the planned rail maintenance depot, it prefers sites closer to the main station and demands an open-ended review of alternatives.

The Left wants to support industry in Bremen and Bremerhaven in switching to climate-neutral production in order to keep companies and jobs. At the same time, the economy is to be diversified and other sectors promoted more strongly.

Bremen has big factories, for example for steel. They should become climate-neutral. The Left wants to help with money. This should keep the jobs. Other sectors should get more support too.

Support is to go to changes such as hydrogen-based steel, climate-friendly aviation, and climate-neutral mobility; in the party's view, part of the investment costs must be borne by the public. The program argues for state steering and cooperation instead of a neoliberal hands-off approach. Workers are to take on new tasks through training and knowledge transfer rather than be replaced. Economic development funding is also to cover knowledge-intensive services, health care, the creative industries, food production, and logistics.

The Left wants a common-good economy guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals rather than by profit. Cooperation is to replace competition, and all sectors are to be recognized for their contribution.

The Left wants a different kind of economy. It should serve people and the environment. Profit should not be the main goal. Companies should work together more. Sectors with many women should get more attention too.

The program rejects constant pressure to grow when resources are limited and distances itself from the "Green New Deal," which the party sees as following capitalist logic. Sectors with many women, many migrant workers, and many jobs for low-skilled people are to be upgraded and treated as equals. At the same time, other sectors are to be opened up to these groups. The party sees this as a matter of fairness across gender, origin, and qualification.

The Left wants to redesign innovation funding programs and implement the Regional Innovation Strategy. Plans include a Smart Services competence center, a master plan for the circular economy, and a stronger Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen (the state's business development agency).

The Left wants to support new ideas in companies more. It will change the funding programs for this. There will be a new center for digital services. A plan for repair and reuse is also planned. Small companies should get funding more easily.

Funding is to go to digitalization, artificial intelligence, lightweight construction, hydrogen technology, and social innovations such as new forms of work. A Smart Services competence center is to advance knowledge-intensive and digital services in the skilled trades. A master plan on circular economy, repairability, and disposal is to link innovation, jobs, and climate goals, and the health sector is to receive more innovation support. The business development agency WFB is to be strengthened and accompany the social-ecological transition. Training and continuing education are to be built into all transformation programs with their own resources, including a future climate fund.

The Left wants to strengthen Bremen as an aerospace location and further develop the ECOMAT research center. Projects for CO₂-neutral flight are meant to cut emissions while securing the Airbus site and its jobs.

Many people in Bremen work in aerospace. The Left wants to strengthen this industry. Planes should fly climate neutral in the future. Bremen should do research on this. This should keep the jobs at Airbus safe.

The party wants the federal government to take a leading role in the European Space Agency's programs and in the national space program. ECOMAT, a research center for eco-efficient materials, is to be developed further. For hydrogen propulsion in aviation and the maritime sector, the hydrogen innovation and technology centers are to carry out applied research.

The Left wants to support small and medium-sized enterprises with digitalization, recruiting skilled workers, and organizational development. The Senate and the economics department are to actively represent Bremen's business interests toward the federal government and the EU.

The Left wants to help small and mid-sized companies. They should get money and advice for digital technology. There is also help with finding skilled workers. The Senate should speak up for Bremen companies in Berlin.

Digitalization programs for micro and small businesses are to continue, accompanied by information, advice, and financing. SMEs are to get help with recruitment marketing, modern organization, and good working conditions. At the federal level, the party wants to demand support for SMEs in the energy price crisis and the climate transition and to work with other states on this. It backs the steelworks' call for fair EU import policy and wants the German side to use its Airbus stake more purposefully to influence site decisions.

The Left wants to support alternative forms of enterprise and create a funding program for founding commercial cooperatives. In the party's view, such businesses make the economy more resilient and contribute to innovation and transformation.

The Left wants to support special kinds of companies. These include cooperatives. Those are companies that belong to their members together. Companies for the common good should also get help. The Left says this makes the economy more stable.

Support is to go to cooperatives, social enterprises, employee-run businesses, common-good companies, and cooperation among small businesses. Backing them is to be a fixed part of structural policy. According to the program, social enterprises are a growing focus of startups with a high share of women.

The Left wants more businesses founded by women and by people with a migration background. To that end it plans neighborhood-based advice and more seed capital, grants, and equity funding for startups.

The Left wants more people to start a company. Women and people with a migration background should get special help. There should be advice right in the neighborhood. New companies should get starting money more easily.

The startup advice for women under the "SHE STARTS NOW!" program is to lead to lastingly successful companies. For migrant founders, regional information centers are to be set up and outreach advice extended. The party wants to promote a migration background as a strength rather than treat it as a deficit. For startups, new forms of financing, direct grants, smaller investment amounts, and expanded equity programs are planned.

The Left wants to allocate commercial plots on principle through Erbpacht (long-term ground leases) so that the state keeps long-term control of the land. Commercial areas are to be developed ecologically, used more densely, and mixed with housing, social, and cultural uses.

Companies need space in Bremen. The Left does not want to sell plots but lease them. That way the state keeps control of the land. Business, housing, and culture should have room side by side. There should also be space for cultural projects.

Industry, skilled trades, and service providers are still to find room to settle and expand, with densification making better use of scarce space. Following the model of the productive city, business, housing, and social and cultural uses are to be mixed. The business development agency WFB is to get an expanded implementation structure for land management. An appropriate share of land is to be open to sociocultural projects. In Bremerhaven, sites are to continue to be developed specifically for the green economy.

The Left wants to implement the tourism strategy and strengthen Bremen as a trade fair and convention location through better venues. The events sector is to remain diverse, and the city's marketing to skilled workers is to be developed further.

The Left wants to bring more visitors to Bremen. The trade fair and the big halls should be better equipped. There should still be many concerts and conventions. Bremen should also advertise to attract skilled workers.

According to the program, tourism needs strategic support from the government because it is closely tied to city marketing. The ÖVB-Arena, the Glocke concert hall, and the Congress Centrum Bremen are to be upgraded so that fairs and conventions stay competitive. The business development agency WFB is to expand marketing to skilled workers together with the business community, including through the Dual Career Service.

The Left wants to limit commercial rents and push at the federal level for rules like the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) to apply to commercial properties as well. The state is to buy and rent out downtown properties to gain more influence over how the area develops.

The Left wants to make downtown more lively. Rents for shops should not be too high. New federal rules should make this possible. The state should buy buildings itself and rent them out. New business ideas should get spaces to try things out.

Downtown is to get experimental spaces for founders, and secondary locations are to be upgraded. Municipalities are to receive tools from the federal government to limit commercial rents. The downtown program is to continue and be extended to the neighborhoods, and projects such as the Open Space are to be evaluated and made permanent. The Domshof square is to be redesigned. The goal is a new mix of business, culture, housing, and public use.

The Left wants to promote climate-neutral ship propulsion and equip the ports with the necessary supply infrastructure. It also wants to abolish the flags-of-convenience system to protect seafarers from exploitation.

The Left wants ships that do not harm the climate. The ports should get the technology for that. Seafarers should be treated fairly. Ship owners should only get state money if their ship flies the German flag.

Climate-neutral propulsion is to be promoted at the shipyard location. At the federal level, the party wants ship owners to receive state aid only if their ships actually fly the German flag. An international agreement should require a genuine link between a ship's flag and the country where its owners are based. In addition, a competence center for fair and sustainable logistics is to be built up quickly to gear supply chains toward a circular economy.

The Left wants wastewater disposal, drinking water supply, waste collection and street cleaning fully returned to public ownership in 2028, when service contracts with private companies expire. Fees should cover only actual costs, and all employees should be paid under collective agreements.

Private companies handle water, wastewater and trash in Bremen. Their contracts end in 2028. Then the city should take over these jobs again. Fees should go down and wages should be fair.

According to the platform, hanseWasser reported about 287 million euros in fee-funded profits from 2006 to 2021. In the short term, the contracts with hanseWasser and swb's drinking water prices are to be reviewed, fee increases prevented, and an additional managing director appointed to represent the public side. For waste collection and street cleaning, Bremen should take over the majority stake held by Nehlsen. Staff at the sanitation service's subsidiaries should be paid under the public-sector pay scale TVöD or its equivalent. Organic waste should be processed in a city-owned plant rather than shipped to Osnabrück.

The Left favors closer cooperation among northern German ports with shared labor and environmental standards. It rejects deepening the Weser because of ecological risks and little benefit; dilapidated quays in Bremerhaven are to be repaired.

The Left wants the ports in northern Germany to work together. They should have the same rules for work and the environment. The Weser river should not be dug deeper. The quay walls in Bremerhaven's port should be repaired.

The JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven is to be included more; cooperation is meant to strengthen German ports against Rotterdam and Antwerp. According to the program, deepening the lower Weser would harm river ecology, farming, tourism, and flood protection. For the outer Weser, the party sees risks to the dikes and little benefit because of a narrow passage. The state of Bremen is to repair the quays it owns right away. The program describes pressure on port workers from temp work, mini-jobs, and weaker collective agreements.

The Left wants to keep the food industry in Bremerhaven and expand the university of applied sciences. The local branches of state agencies and of the regional court are to stay and get more staff.

Many people in Bremerhaven work in food factories. The Left wants to protect these jobs. The university should grow. State offices in Bremerhaven should get more staff.

Economic development agencies are to support the food companies and link them closely with the university. Bremerhaven is to keep benefiting from state funding programs, including in tourism. The Alfred Wegener Institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems, and other institutes are to be expanded and tied more closely to the university. According to the program, the trade inspectorate and the office of weights and measures are so understaffed that required workplace safety checks cannot be done. At the regional court in Bremerhaven, staff shortages are said to have let cases lapse under the statute of limitations.