SPD on the economy

The SPD wants German carmakers to be spared fines under the EU's CO2 fleet limits for now. It says the money is needed for climate-friendly vehicles and jobs. The targets themselves are to stay.

The EU has limits for CO2 from new cars. Companies that miss them pay a fine. The SPD wants German carmakers to pay no fines right now. They should spend the money on new cars and jobs. But the goals should stay.

The platform sees the future of the car in electric mobility and rejects combustion engines running on e-fuels as a solution, saying they would make cars affordable only for top earners. Germany is to remain a leading vehicle manufacturing location. The SPD wants to negotiate with the EU Commission: the limits should remain, but the path to them should be more pragmatic.

The SPD wants to set up a Deutschlandfonds (Germany Fund) in which the state and private investors jointly finance investments. It would start with €100 billion and fund things like grids, charging stations and housing construction.

The SPD wants to start a new fund. It is called the Deutschlandfonds. The state and private investors both put money in. It should start with 100 billion euros. The money pays for things like power grids and homes.

The fund would give loans to companies and institutions or take stakes in them, for example for power and heating grids, the hydrogen network, charging stations and housing. Because the federal government receives stakes or claims in return for its seed capital, this is meant to count as a financial transaction compatible with the debt brake. Large investors such as insurers and pension funds could invest alongside. The SPD rules out privatizing public services of general interest.

The SPD wants tax relief for partnerships and sole proprietorships when they reinvest profits. A new legal form, the "Gesellschaft mit gebundenem Vermögen" (company with tied assets), is also meant to ease succession in mid-sized firms.

Some companies belong to individual people. If they put their profit back into the company, they should pay less tax. The SPD also wants to allow a new type of company. It makes it easier for employees, for example, to take over a firm.

The new legal form would stand on its own and allow a trustee-style handover to successors, for example to the company's employees. Loopholes for tax evasion are to be ruled out. The relief applies to profits that stay in the business and are invested.

The SPD wants to further shorten planning and approval procedures and to merge, simplify and digitize reporting obligations. The rights of workers and consumers and environmental goals are to be preserved.

The SPD wants less red tape. Permits should come faster. Companies should have to write fewer reports. Much should be done digitally. The rights of workers and consumers stay protected.

The Deutschlandpakt agreed with the states to speed up procedures is to be continued. New laws are to be checked in advance for how they work in practice. The platform names nationwide fiber and mobile coverage as the basis for digital procedures. An SPD chancellor would convene a conference with business and public administration to identify further steps.

The SPD wants to supply industry with raw materials through the Rohstofffonds (raw materials fund), more domestic extraction and a coordinated EU strategy. The circular economy strategy is to be implemented pragmatically.

Industry needs raw materials. The SPD wants to extract more of them in Germany. The EU should have a shared plan for raw materials. Also, more materials should be reused.

The raw materials fund already in place is to be used and domestic extraction advanced. At EU level, the SPD seeks a coordinated raw materials strategy. For the circular economy, the platform names sales markets for raw materials recycled in an environmentally sound way and more efficient use of materials.

The SPD wants to simplify the EU's carbon border adjustment and add export support so that climate-friendly production is not a competitive disadvantage. A European resilience strategy is also meant to bring key industries back to Europe.

Companies that produce in a climate-friendly way should not be worse off. The EU charges a CO2 price on some goods at the border. The SPD wants to make this rule simpler. Companies should also get help with exports. Key industries should produce in Europe again.

The platform argues the climate is not helped if production moves abroad and causes more greenhouse gases there. The Klimaclub (Climate Club), in which countries set common standards such as for green steel, is to continue. The EU resilience strategy is meant to reduce risks, protect critical infrastructure and locate key industries in Europe. Together with European partners, the SPD wants to examine local content rules and localization requirements.

The SPD wants to agree on international standards for decent work with living wages and stands by the EU supply chain directive. At the UN level, too, it demands binding rules on business and human rights.

Companies buy goods and raw materials from all over the world. The SPD wants firm rules for this. Workers everywhere should earn enough to live on. Companies should respect human rights. These rules should apply worldwide.

For stable supply chains and access to raw materials, the SPD wants to form alliances and strategic partnerships, for example on green hydrogen. Value creation is to arise with production sites in partner countries while also securing jobs in Germany. In the platform's view, uniform rules in Europe especially benefit German companies that already have high standards. The European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court are to safeguard human rights as strong institutions.

The SPD wants the EU to design trade and investment agreements more simply and conclude them more quickly. Because, in the platform's view, individual member states too often slow down negotiations, a qualified majority in the Council of Ministers is to be enough in the future.

The EU makes trade deals with other countries. This often takes long because single EU countries slow things down. The SPD wants to change that. In the future, a large majority of EU countries should be enough. The deals should also protect the environment and human rights.

The platform names the agreement with Mercosur and free trade deals with India and Australia as important projects. Such agreements are to fit security policy goals, strengthen social and human rights, and protect the environment and climate. They are to bring long-term growth and prosperity to all parties. The SPD wants trade organized on a rules-based, non-discriminatory footing, also in the interest of countries of the Global South.