ÖDP: program for the 2025 federal election

The ÖDP wants to remove economic growth as a statutory goal and orient the economy toward a circular model and the common good. A common-good balance sheet is to complement gross domestic product. In the party's view, GDP says nothing about actual prosperity.

The ÖDP says the economy should not always have to grow. This goal should be removed from the law. Products should last longer and be easy to repair. Companies should also show what they do for everyone. The party calls this a common-good balance sheet.

The ÖDP wants to cancel or halt free trade agreements such as CETA and Mercosur and conclude only agreements it considers fair. A stricter supply chain law, a carbon border tax and import bans are meant to shield small and mid-sized firms from competition based on low environmental and social standards.

The ÖDP wants to end free trade deals. New deals should be fair. Companies should have to care about the environment and people at their suppliers. Some goods from rainforest areas should no longer enter the country. This is meant to help small and mid-sized companies.

The ÖDP wants public companies, public institutions and all municipalities to publish a common-good balance sheet alongside their financial accounts. Private companies would do so voluntarily and gain advantages in taxes, subsidies and public contracts.

The ÖDP wants a common-good report. It shows what an organization does for people and nature. Public companies and towns would have to write one. Private companies could write one by choice. Then they would get benefits from the state.

The ÖDP wants to strictly separate banks that issue loans from investment banking and asset management. Stock exchanges should again serve mainly to supply companies with capital.

The ÖDP wants to split up banks. A bank should either give loans or trade in securities. It should not do both. The stock market should mainly raise money for companies.

The ÖDP wants to prohibit the privatization of basic public services. Public-private partnerships would be banned without exception.

Everyone needs some things, like drinking water and roads. The ÖDP wants the state to keep them. The state should not sell them to companies. Joint projects of state and companies should also be banned.

The ÖDP wants to shift social insurance to tax funding and include all citizens. Contributions levied on work would fall, and everyone would benefit equally from the system.

The ÖDP wants to pay for social insurance in a new way. The money should come from taxes. Payments taken from wages should go down. Everyone pays in and everyone gets benefits.

The ÖDP wants to introduce a tax-free basic payment for everyone that includes compensation for carbon pricing. Social benefits would be an individual entitlement, and in crises aid would be paid as flat sums without lengthy checks.

The ÖDP wants to give everyone a fixed amount of money from the state. It includes a payback for the carbon price. Each person should get social benefits in their own right. It should not matter who they live with. In a crisis, help should come fast.

The ÖDP wants to pay for its new welfare system from several tax sources. These include environmental and resource taxes, a higher top income tax rate, and new taxes on wealth, speculation and digital business.

The ÖDP wants to pay for the new welfare system with several taxes. There should be taxes on using up nature and on wealth. Speculation and digital companies should also be taxed. People who earn a lot should pay more income tax.

The ÖDP wants an ecological and social tax reform: carbon pricing is to be expanded and the use of raw materials and land subjected to steadily rising taxes. In return, social insurance contributions would fall, and a per-capita payment would provide social balance.

The ÖDP wants taxes on the use of raw materials and land. These taxes should keep rising. In return, charges on wages should go down. Every person should also get the same amount of money back. This is meant to help people with little money.

The ÖDP calls for a nationwide rule allowing cities and towns to require a share of price-controlled living space in multi-story buildings. The platform places this within a social reform meant to reverse redistribution from the bottom to the top.

The ÖDP wants more affordable homes. Cities and towns should be allowed to set rules for builders. Some homes in large buildings should have a limited price. There should be a law for all of Germany.

The ÖDP wants to introduce a salary for people who raise children or care for relatives within the family. The platform argues that this work is a service to society without which the welfare system would collapse.

The ÖDP wants to pay a salary to parents and to people who care for relatives. They do work for all of society. Without this work the welfare system would not function. So they should get money for it.

The ÖDP wants to pay parents a wage for raising their children and introduce a basic income for children to cover material costs. Parents would decide for themselves whether to keep the money or use it to pay for childcare of their choice. In the program's view, today's welfare system disadvantages families because it undervalues the work of raising children.

The ÖDP wants to pay parents for raising children. Parents should get a wage for this. They can also use it to pay for daycare. Every child should also get a basic income. The ÖDP says: raising children is work for all of society.

The ÖDP sees parents and guardians as primarily responsible for raising children. It rejects education plans for nurseries and compulsory all-day schools against the wishes of those affected, and it wants kindergarten to be free of charge.

The ÖDP says parents come first in raising children. It does not want an education plan for nurseries. Nobody should be forced into an all-day school. Kindergarten should cost nothing.

The ÖDP wants all children to be taught together for the first six school years, with instruction tailored to different ability levels within the class. Special-needs schools (Förderschulen) are to be kept. The party also calls for internships in every type of school and a stronger focus on languages.

The ÖDP wants all children to learn together for six years. Only then do they go to different schools. Special-needs schools should stay. Students should do more internships. They should also learn more languages.

The ÖDP wants teaching and research to be independent of special interests from business and politics. A first degree should remain free of tuition fees. According to the program, studying and learning should not depend on commercial usefulness.

The ÖDP wants independent universities. Companies and politicians should have less influence there. A first degree should cost nothing. All groups at a university should have an equal say in its committees.

The ÖDP wants to immediately raise pay in dual vocational training to at least €1,400 a month in the first year. The federal government would cover half. The aim is to make company-based training attractive again for suitable applicants.

The ÖDP wants more money for apprentices. In the first year they should get at least €1,400 a month. The amount should go up every year. The government should pay half of it. This should lead more young people to start an apprenticeship.

The ÖDP wants to reorganize health care funding and create a single health insurance plan for everyone. The platform treats health care as an essential public service in which profit-seeking should have no place.

The ÖDP wants one health insurance for all people. Private add-on insurance stays possible. Nobody should make a profit from health care. Hospitals should no longer close. Nurses should get more pay.

The ÖDP rejects mandatory vaccination in Germany. It calls vaccination an act of solidarity and wants to reach a high vaccination rate through public information so that shots can remain voluntary.

The ÖDP does not want mandatory vaccination in Germany. But it says getting vaccinated is important and shows solidarity. People should be well informed. Then vaccination can stay voluntary.

The ÖDP wants enough hospice places and palliative care services everywhere in Germany. The federal government would co-fund this and make it binding by law. According to the program, the terminally ill and dying are entitled to solidarity from the state and society.

The ÖDP wants more help for dying people. There should be enough hospice places everywhere. A hospice is a home for people who are dying. The government should help pay for it. People who want to should be able to die at home.

The ÖDP wants to make it easier to move from the asylum process into labor migration. The individual person should count, not the country of origin or the original reason for coming. Those who integrate quickly and support themselves should get a binding assurance of family reunification.

The ÖDP wants asylum seekers to be able to stay as workers more easily. The individual person matters, not the home country. People who settle in well and work may bring their family. Newcomers should be able to learn German and work right away.

The ÖDP wants a nationwide law guaranteeing equal treatment in all areas of life for people with mental illness or addiction disorders. Support services are to be expanded across the country and self-help groups funded by the state. The program sees those affected as disadvantaged when taking out insurance and applying for jobs.

The ÖDP wants to better protect people with mental illness. This also applies to people with an addiction. A law should make sure they are treated equally everywhere. There should be more help. The government should give money to self-help groups.

The ÖDP wants Germany to become climate neutral by 2030 in order to meet the 1.5-degree target. After that, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is supposed to fall again, which the party says is needed to prevent a hothouse climate.

The ÖDP wants to protect the climate. Germany should be climate neutral by 2030. That means no extra greenhouse gases are added. After that, there should be less CO2 in the air again.

The ÖDP wants to switch the entire energy supply to renewable sources by 2030 and phase out coal well before 2030. Solar and wind power would be expanded faster, among other things through solar mandates and simpler planning.

The ÖDP wants to use only renewable energy by 2030. That is, for example, power from sun and wind. Coal should end well before 2030. Solar panels should be required on many roofs.

The ÖDP rejects a return to nuclear power because it considers the consequences of a severe accident and the storage of nuclear waste incalculable. The remaining nuclear facilities in Germany would also close, and Germany would withdraw from the Euratom Treaty.

The ÖDP wants no more nuclear power. It thinks accidents and nuclear waste are too dangerous. The last nuclear sites in Germany should close too. Germany should leave a European nuclear treaty.

The ÖDP wants to cut the use of energy and raw materials and build a circular economy. Durable, repairable products made from renewable raw materials would get priority, and fossil-based materials would be replaced.

The ÖDP wants less waste and less consumption. Products should last long and be easy to repair. Materials should be used again and again. This is called a circular economy.

The ÖDP wants to bring the use of new land for housing and transport down to net zero within ten years and to expand nature reserves. Bavaria's species protection rules from the "Rettet die Bienen" (Save the Bees) petition would apply nationwide.

The ÖDP wants better protection for soil, animals and plants. In ten years, no new land should be built over. There should be more nature reserves. Species protection rules from Bavaria should apply in all of Germany.

The ÖDP wants the water supply to remain public and not be privatized. Groundwater would be protected through less paving, more infiltration and stricter rules on withdrawals and industrial sites.

The ÖDP wants to protect water. The water supply should belong to the state and the towns. Companies should not be able to buy it. Rainwater should be able to seep into the ground.

The ÖDP wants to give animal welfare organizations the right to sue at federal and state level and to appoint independent animal welfare officers with binding powers. It also calls for a plan to phase out animal testing and for several bans.

The ÖDP wants to protect animals better. Animal welfare groups should be able to go to court for animals. There should be animal welfare officers who check on animal keepers. Animal testing should end under a plan. Fur farming and wild animals in circuses should be banned.

The ÖDP wants agriculture geared toward regional cycles rather than the world market. EU subsidies would be paid according to ecological, social and animal welfare criteria, and farms should be able to obtain higher prices.

The ÖDP wants farming for the region. Farmers should produce less for the world market. EU money should reward care for nature and animals. The size of the fields should no longer count. Farmers should get better prices.

The ÖDP wants to tax biocides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and ban certain neonicotinoids without exception. Genetic engineering would not be used in farming, and soils are to become healthier.

The ÖDP wants less poison on fields. Pest killers and artificial fertilizer should be taxed. Some insect poisons should be banned completely. Farming should not use genetic engineering. The soil should be healthy.

The ÖDP wants to raise the legal minimum standards for farm animals substantially. The plans include an EU-wide ban on cages, fewer animals per area, short transport distances and mandatory labeling of meat.

The ÖDP wants farm animals to live better. Cages should be banned in the EU. A farm should only keep as many animals as its land can support. Animals should travel only short distances to slaughter. Meat labels should show how the animal lived.

The ÖDP wants to at least double funding for local public transit and for the rail network. Rail, cycling and walking would be expanded as part of a broader shift in how people get around.

The ÖDP wants to spend much more money on buses and trains. The money should at least double. Paths for bikes and walking should also get better. Then fewer people should need a car.

The ÖDP wants to cut passenger car traffic by at least half by 2035. Lower speed limits, a halt to registering new combustion-engine cars, a freeze on highway construction and a ban on short flights are meant to help.

The ÖDP wants far less car traffic. By 2035 there should be only half as much. The speed limit on highways should be 120 km/h. New gas and diesel cars should no longer be registered. The ÖDP wants to ban short flights.

The ÖDP wants to reduce exposure to wireless radiation through lower limits, wireless-free areas and a halt to the 5G and 6G rollout until independent studies rule out risks. Digital infrastructure should instead be expanded via wired technology such as fiber optics. In the platform's view, legal protections do not fully cover the health and environmental effects of wireless signals.

The ÖDP wants less wireless radiation. The 5G rollout should stop for now. First, researchers should check whether it is harmful. Daycare centers, schools and hospitals should have no wireless networks. Internet should come through fiber cables.

The ÖDP calls for a right to take part in everyday life without digital tools, for example at government offices, on public transit and when paying with cash. It also wants comprehensive data protection, safeguards for fundamental rights and public oversight of advanced AI.

The ÖDP says nobody should have to do everything digitally. People should still be able to visit offices without a phone. People should still be able to pay with cash. Personal data should be well protected. The state should oversee artificial intelligence.

The ÖDP wants to act more decisively and earlier against child abuse. More prevention, tougher criminal law and effective prosecution are meant to contribute to this. Physical and psychological mistreatment of children and adolescents is to be fought with full force.

The ÖDP wants to protect children better from abuse. Punishments should be tougher. Police should pursue offenders more effectively. There should be more prevention. People in danger should find help easily, for example through hotlines.

The ÖDP wants to introduce citizen-initiated petitions and referendums at the federal level and strengthen public participation by law at every level. Corporate donations to parties would be banned so that, in the party's view, politics cannot be bought.

The ÖDP wants more direct democracy. Citizens should also be able to vote on laws at the national level. Companies should no longer be allowed to give money to parties. Lawmakers should need permission for side jobs.

The ÖDP wants Germany to carry out a thorough review of how well it can withstand severe crises. Weak points found in the review should be fixed quickly, and resilience should become a guiding goal of policy.

The ÖDP wants Germany to be better prepared for crises. The state should check where the country is vulnerable. It should fix weak points quickly. Being crisis-proof should be an important goal of politics.

The ÖDP wants Germany to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to have all nuclear weapons removed from the country. The Bundeswehr should act militarily only in an emergency and in self-defense. According to the platform, foreign policy should above all serve peace and the protection of the basis of life.

The ÖDP wants no nuclear weapons in Germany. Germany should sign a treaty against nuclear weapons. The army should only fight to defend the country. Peace should be the most important goal.

The ÖDP wants to reduce the causes of flight by turning trade agreements into fair trade agreements and banning arms exports to countries outside the EU. It justifies this with shared responsibility for the climate crisis, conflicts and economic hardship in the Global South.

The ÖDP wants fewer people to have to flee. Trade with poor countries should be fair. Germany should not sell weapons to countries outside the EU. The party says Germany shares responsibility for the problems there.