SPD on the economy

The SPD wants to manage the changes in the economy and the world of work with a new transformation agency, regional networks and a fund. Bavaria's economy is to stay strong, become climate neutral and be more balanced regionally and socially.

The economy is changing a lot, for example because of climate and computers. The SPD wants to start a new agency for this. The agency advises companies and brings help and courses together. There should be networks in the regions. A new fund should pay for this.

The agency is to be created together with unions, employer associations and the Federal Employment Agency. It would connect stakeholders, spot trends in the world of work, bundle funding and training offers and support the state government. Regional transformation networks would be coordinated by it and help create equal living conditions. A transformation fund would provide money to the agency and networks, for example for small and mid-sized companies and for training. The SPD also wants to strengthen regional structural policy and invest in infrastructure in a targeted way.

The SPD wants to keep Bavaria an industrial state and invest in research, digitalization, startups and the skilled trades. It commits to sustainable growth and rejects a policy of degrowth. Support for the trades is to be tied to collective bargaining coverage.

The SPD wants Bavaria's economy to stay strong. It wants to spend more on research. Young companies should get more help. Skilled trades should get grants when someone takes over a business. Bavaria should lead in recycling.

An innovation fund would support research on climate neutrality, changes in the world of work and demographics; universities would get more capacity for labor research. Startups are to be protected from takeovers and non-European monopolies, state contracts tied to European technological sovereignty and startup centers expanded. For the trades, the SPD plans a succession bonus for founding or taking over businesses and a higher Meisterbonus (a grant for master craftsman graduates). Supply chains are to be shortened, and Bavaria is to move toward a circular economy that uses more recycled materials.

The SPD wants international trade agreements to contain enforceable rules on sustainability, human rights and decent work. The Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz (Supply Chain Due Diligence Act) is to be complied with and tightened. Bavaria's offices abroad are to help companies meet such standards and build partnerships that include civil society.

The SPD wants stricter rules for trade with other countries. Companies should respect human rights, the environment and fair work. The supply chain law should become stricter. This law makes companies check human rights at their suppliers too. Bavaria's offices abroad should help companies with this.

The party bases its position on Bavaria's high export share and its close economic ties worldwide. The rules in trade agreements are to be backed by sanctions and apply to Bavarian and foreign companies alike. Bavaria is to take a clearer stance when international partners violate human rights. Cooperation through the offices abroad is to go beyond promoting business interests and include trade unions and non-governmental organizations.