SPD on the economy

The SPD announces a decade of high public investment. Money from the federal special fund plus additional state funds is to go into transport routes, digital networks, and universities and research.

The SPD wants to invest a lot of money for ten years. The money comes from the federal government and the state. It should go to roads and railways. Fast internet, universities and research should also get money.

According to the platform, companies need reliable, modern infrastructure in order to invest and stay competitive. Public spending is meant to provide planning certainty and trigger private investment. The SPD also wants to support businesses with targeted investments in sustainability, digitalization and climate-neutral production. It describes the shift to a climate-neutral economy as an opportunity for growth and jobs.

The SPD wants to target the state's support tools, especially loan guarantees, at companies that have to transform. This is meant to keep investment possible even in uncertain markets and to keep industrial jobs in the state.

Many companies have to change a lot. The SPD wants to help them. The state should guarantee loans for these companies more often. A guarantee means the state steps in if the company cannot pay. This should keep jobs in the state.

The underlying plan is to be drawn up together with the Transformation Council. Support is to go mainly to businesses that invest in new technologies, processes and products and involve their workforce in the change. The goal is for goods to keep being made in the state at internationally competitive prices. The platform names biotechnology, hydrogen, battery technology, the circular economy and the digital economy among the future sectors.

The SPD wants to found a "Standortgesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz" as a single point of contact for companies looking to set up in the state. A "commercial land turbo" is also meant to create new commercial and industrial sites across the state.

The SPD wants more companies to come to the state. There should be one central office for this. Companies get all their advice there. New land for businesses should also become available faster.

The agency is to bundle advice on locating, help with subsidies and start-up support, and work closely with the state's Investment and Structural Bank (ISB). Faster procedures and less red tape are planned for large-scale projects. For new sites, the SPD wants to pay attention to efficient land use, climate protection and sustainability. The platform describes Hahn Airport as an important economic factor, partly because of logistics and future site development.

The SPD wants to simplify more rules, shorten planning and permitting procedures and digitalize processes. Workers' rights, consumer protection and the goal of climate neutrality are to remain untouched.

The SPD wants less red tape for companies. Permits should come faster. Many things should be done digitally. The rights of workers and consumers stay protected. Climate protection also remains a goal.

After two red-tape reduction packages already carried out, the SPD wants to continue this course together with business, chambers and municipalities. It intends to implement the federal-state pact on speeding up planning and permitting as well as the Federal Modernization Agenda. On data protection, it seeks comparable standards across Europe and wants to roll back additional rules. Support programs for start-ups, the self-employed and mid-sized firms are to become leaner and more digital. A central funding platform is to make it easier to find suitable programs and submit applications.

The SPD wants to develop the state's innovation fund further and introduce growth financing for young companies. Small and mid-sized businesses are to get an "AI check," and skilled trades an innovation bonus for AI applications.

The SPD wants to support young companies with new ideas. They should also get money to grow after they are founded. Small companies should get help with AI. AI means artificial intelligence. Skilled-trade businesses should get a bonus for using AI.

The innovation fund is to focus more on future technologies such as life sciences, artificial intelligence, green tech and sustainable production. The start-up stipend and equity investments by the ISB are to continue, and the transfer of research into market-ready products is to be supported. Small and mid-sized firms are to get easier access to innovation funding, and more women are to be encouraged to start companies. The AI check is meant to help firms classify their systems under the EU AI Act and meet documentation and transparency duties. The "AI in skilled trades" bonus is meant to ease the entry into AI applications.

The SPD wants to strengthen the skilled trades and dual vocational training and attract more young people to trade occupations. The Aufstiegsbonus (advancement bonus) is to be expanded, and in the long run master craftsman training should be free of fees.

The SPD wants to strengthen the skilled trades. More young people should learn a trade. Training to become a master craftsman should one day be free. A master title should count as much as a university degree.

Vocational schools and the inter-company training centers of the chambers of crafts are to be strengthened, and joint training between companies is to receive targeted funding. The chambers will keep getting support for their apprentice workshops and the facilities they need. Trade occupations are to get more attention in all school types, and career counseling will be adapted. Young master craftspeople are to get reliable help when founding or taking over a business. The program stresses that vocational and academic education are of equal value.

The SPD wants to market Rhineland-Palatinate more uniformly as a travel destination and create a joint tourism umbrella brand. The tourism strategy is to be implemented and developed further, and the sector's digitalization is to be advanced.

The SPD wants to bring more vacationers to Rhineland-Palatinate. The state should advertise with one shared brand. Guests should be able to do everything for their trip digitally. Nature and culture should be protected.

According to the program, tourism secures about 150,000 jobs in the state. The basis is the Tourism Strategy 2025; the state's role as shareholder of Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus GmbH is to be strengthened. Businesses and institutions will get support for digital offers and online marketing. Natural and cultural landscapes are to be better protected. The SPD wants to link hiking, cycling, wine, culture and regional restaurants more closely to create more economic value.

The SPD wants to make the state's funding programs simpler and give municipalities more responsibility of their own. Public procurement is to move faster, permits are to be standardized and sector-specific procedures digitized.

The SPD wants to hand out state funding in a simpler way. Towns should decide more for themselves. Public contracts should be awarded faster. Permits should work in a similar way everywhere and be digital.

The platform cites as models the simplified rollout of the special fund and the Regionales Zukunftsprogramm (regional future program), with more room for local decisions, a lean procedure and quick payouts. These principles are to be extended to other funding areas and linked with standardized digital processes. The SPD wants to support business and employment this way. According to the platform, Rhineland-Palatinate is to become a state of simple procedures.