SPD on Europe

The SPD wants to give European policy more weight in the state and push harder for European concerns in the Bundesrat. Municipalities are to draw down more EU funding with the help of local Europe officers. The state is to approve and co-finance EU-selected projects promptly.

Europe should matter more in Hessian politics. Towns and cities should get more money from the EU. The SPD wants to support Europe officers in the municipalities for this. The state should pay its share of EU projects quickly. The SPD stands up for social rights in the EU.

The SPD commits to the European Pillar of Social Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and wants to work for compliance with them. It names social protection, fair wages, a common humanitarian migration system and the fight against discrimination as concerns that should not stop at borders. Projects already selected by the EU are to be approved by the state without delay and given the necessary co-financing. In Frankfurt, an institute for global and sustainable finance is to be built together with existing research institutions.

The SPD wants Hessian universities to receive more European funding and to join European university alliances. Stays abroad during vocational training are to become easier and a core part of training. Mid-sized companies are to get help adapting to the EU's Green Deal.

Hesse's universities should work more with Europe. Trainees should find it easier to spend time abroad. Schools should have more exchanges and partnerships. Small and mid-sized companies should get help to do business more sustainably. The state should measure how well people are doing.

University partnerships on the energy transition are planned, especially with Eastern Europe and Africa. Business advice, support and financing are to be reviewed and brought in line with European standards, with the transformation fund proposed by the SPD playing a part. Multilingualism, exchange programs, school partnerships and education on European politics are to be promoted, as are stays abroad for state employees. Alongside the state budget, the SPD wants to publish an index of welfare indicators aligned with the European Semester and the UN's 2030 Agenda. It also commits to the results of the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference and to a socially fair shift in transportation.