ÖDP on the economy

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 goal of steady growth laid down in the Stability Act (StabG) is to be dropped. The party calls for longer warranty periods with a reversed burden of proof, repair-friendly products and a ban on planned obsolescence, meaning deliberately shortened product life. The aim is a circular economy that uses no more than the planet can provide over time. A common-good balance sheet is to assess business success by values oriented toward the common good. The platform counters the current growth and globalization model with a more regional economy.

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.

New agreements are to do without investor arbitration courts, regulatory cooperation or clauses that lower standards; environmental and animal welfare standards are to be enforceable in court. The WTO is to become a world organization for sustainable trade. An EU carbon border tax would burden imports from countries lacking adequate climate standards. The party demands a supply chain law with clear sanctions and no exemptions. Goods such as beef, palm oil or GM soy from former rainforest land could no longer be imported. Brick-and-mortar retail is to be preserved through fair conditions relative to mail-order business.

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 common-good balance sheet is meant to show an organization's ecological and social contribution. Tax incentives, subsidized loans, start-up grants, guarantees, business settlement, building permits and infrastructure funding would depend on the result. Public purchasing and contracting nationwide would use ecological and social criteria, with an audited positive balance sheet counting as one criterion. Training in sustainable business would become part of education programs. The ÖDP also wants the common-good principle of Article 151 of the Bavarian constitution enforced at least across Germany.

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 rule targets banks that hold a state license to lend and thereby create money. They would be institutionally separate from firms doing investment banking or asset management. According to the program, stock exchanges should return to their original task of financing 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 program cites drinking water, transport routes and buildings used by public institutions as examples. The ban would cover all areas of essential public services. Public-private partnerships, in which private firms co-finance or operate public tasks, would be ruled out entirely.