Linke on the economy

The Left wants basic public services to be publicly owned and democratically run. In the party's view, no one should make a profit from areas such as health, care, housing, transportation and education.

The Left wants important services to belong to everyone. These include hospitals, buses, trains, homes and schools. Companies should not make a profit from them. Everyone should be able to afford them.

The platform counts health and care, buses and trains, internet and communications, education, housing, culture and energy as basic services. They are to be accessible and affordable for everyone. The state should step in where, in the party's view, profits are placed above people's well-being. As the guiding line of its "Thuringian welfare state promise," the Left says everything people need to live should be publicly organized. It rejects selling the railway, postal service and Telekom to private owners.

The Left wants a new industrial holdings strategy that lets the state take stakes in companies undergoing structural change. This is meant to secure jobs, ease the switch to climate-neutral production, and keep more value creation in Thuringia.

The state should be able to take shares in companies. This gives companies more money for change. They should be able to produce in a climate-friendly way. Jobs should stay safe. More profit should stay in Thuringia.

Independent firms that want to make production climate-neutral or develop new products are to be able to strengthen their equity through a state stake. Plants that depend on distant corporate headquarters are to be able to break away from those corporate structures in this way. Regional strategies involving employees, unions, municipalities and the state are planned. The party does not want Thuringia to be mainly a supplier to western German and international corporations; further industry networks are to remain possible.

The Left wants to bundle support for small and medium-sized businesses in a dedicated law and cut red tape. Start-ups in the skilled trades and cooperatives in which workforces take over their company are to get more support.

The Left wants to support small and medium-sized companies. A new law should bundle the help. There should be less paperwork. Skilled trades and cooperatives should also get more help.

The law is meant to tailor help with networking, sales, marketing, market access, digitalization and financing to what businesses need. The existing start-up premium and bonus for master craftspeople are to be kept and expanded so that cost does not stand in the way of master training. For worker cooperatives the party plans a dedicated funding program, simpler guidelines and more publicity for microloans, to preserve small businesses in rural areas. Women founders are to be made more visible, and founders who failed are to get a second chance.

The Left wants a state program with incentives for Thuringian companies to switch from military to civilian production. It rejects new arms factories, and companies in which the state holds a stake are not to make military investments.

Some companies make weapons and military goods. The Left wants them to make civilian products instead. A state program should help with that. The party does not want new arms factories.

The state program is to promote what is called arms conversion, the shift from military goods to civilian products. Land and buildings formerly used by the military are to be made usable for peaceful purposes. Companies in which the state holds a stake are not to be allowed military investments. The party's reasoning is that no one should have to earn a living from destroying other lives.

The Left wants to support municipalities near which large companies set up, and to create an infrastructure fund for this. At such sites, collective agreements, good wages and co-determination are to become the model.

Big companies are setting up in Thuringia. The towns then need more daycare, homes and buses. The Left wants a special fund for this. The new companies should pay union-agreed wages.

As an example, the platform cites the Arnstadt plant of the Chinese battery maker CATL, which places heavy demands on surrounding communities. The fund is to help pay for infrastructure ranging from kindergartens and housing to local public transit. The company, its workforce and the union are to get help in building up jobs covered by collective agreements and strong co-determination. Suitable apprenticeships and degree programs are to be created for the battery industry and hydrogen technology.

The Left wants to keep investing in research and technology policy, with small and medium-sized businesses at the center. A transformation and sustainability fund is to reorganize financing; military research is to receive no funding.

The Left wants to fund research and new technology. Small and medium-sized companies should benefit most. There should be a new fund for this. Research for the military gets no money.

Public research institutions and targeted funding tools are to help Thuringian firms with new ideas and secure regional value chains; their financing is to continue and grow. The aim of innovation funding is for smaller companies to grow and build lasting research capacity of their own. Social and environmental effects of research and technology are to be taken into account when awarding funds. A new research center on work and innovation is to spot risks of digitalization for employees early.

The Left wants to keep strengthening tourism in Thuringia and give financial support to restaurants and lodging businesses. The platform points to the higher sales tax on meals and the shortage of skilled workers as reasons.

The Left wants to strengthen tourism in Thuringia. Restaurants and hotels should get money from the state. This is mainly for businesses in rural areas. The party also wants to support travel without barriers.

Through 2027, three million euros are to go to businesses via the lodging and restaurant bonus, mainly in rural areas. The party relies on good wages, investment and better marketing. It also plans closer cooperation with neighboring states and among tourism regions, more funding for accessible travel, and a state-run digital platform for sports, recreation and health offerings. Gentle, resource-saving, year-round tourism is to be promoted.