SPD on the economy

The SPD aims for climate-neutral steel production in Saarland using hydrogen. It wants to lobby the federal government and the EU for the necessary funding. It also calls for EU protective measures against high-emission steel imports so that climate action does not weaken competitiveness.

Steel from Saarland should become climate-neutral. Hydrogen should help with that. The SPD wants money from the federal government and the EU. The EU should protect steel that is made cleanly. Cheap steel with high CO2 should cost more at the border.

The program calls steel an industry of the future and climate-neutral production a matter of implementation. The SPD wants to launch suitable research projects and connect companies and workers. It will push for funding at the federal and European levels. As protection it names tougher safeguards, meaning import restrictions, and a carbon border tax ("Green-Border-Tax").

The SPD wants to preserve the automotive and supplier industry in Saarland and expand it by attracting new companies. It takes a technology-neutral approach, supporting hydrogen, electric mobility, and efficient combustion engines for synthetic fuels. It backs the arrival of battery maker SVOLT.

Many people in Saarland work in the car industry. The SPD wants to keep these jobs. It supports different kinds of engines: electric, hydrogen, and efficient combustion engines. The SVOLT battery factory should come.

The program names companies such as Ford, ZF, and Bosch and sides with workers and unions. SVOLT is to locate in Heusweiler and Überherrn, subject to legal environmental and nature-protection requirements. The industry is to cooperate more closely through the Gesellschaft für Transformationsmanagement Saar (GeTS) in a federally funded network. The SPD names self-driving cars, chips, software, and production electronics as future fields.

The SPD wants to accompany the economy's transformation with public support. It plans "transformation mentors" as advisers, an active role for the Gesellschaft für Transformationsmanagement Saar (GeTS), and a "TransformationsBooster" funding program for small and medium-sized businesses.

The economy in Saarland is changing a lot. The SPD wants to help companies and workers with this. There should be advisers for the change. Small and medium-sized companies should get money for new technology. Nobody should lose their job.

GeTS is to help fill new jobs with workers from affected companies and thereby prevent unemployment. Together with the Federal Employment Agency and the unions and employers, the SPD wants to organize placements early. The mentors are to find partners, identify training needs, and advise on funding options. The "TransformationsBooster" is to support company investment and innovation in small and medium-sized firms. The strategy is to be coordinated in the state chancellery.

The SPD wants to create 10,000 new jobs in future industries and trigger at least five billion euros in investment by 2025. A transformation task force in the minister-president's office is to shorten decision-making paths. Old industrial sites are to be prepared for new companies.

The SPD wants 10,000 new jobs in new industries. For this, five billion euros should be invested by 2025. The money comes from the state and from companies. A task force with the head of government should help. Old factory land should be used again.

Overall, the SPD aims for a record of more than 400,000 jobs. Under the "Masterplan Industrieflächen 2," disused sites are to be reused for businesses, urban development, or nature. Companies in strategic fields such as semiconductor and chip production are to be supported in locating here. The party wants to help struggling firms restructure through the equity company SEK. Added to this are a more diverse industry mix, a push for the circular economy, a coordination office for retail, and a state plan for the gaming industry.

The SPD wants to keep value-added tax for hotels and restaurants permanently low and expand tourism. By 2025, overnight stays are to rise to 3.3 million a year. A new trade fair, convention, and culture forum in Saarbrücken is to receive 99 million euros.

The SPD wants more visitors in Saarland. Hotels and restaurants should pay less sales tax for good. By 2025 there should be 3.3 million overnight stays a year. Saarbrücken should get a new trade fair center.

Hotels and restaurants are to get help finding skilled staff, with the program seeing good jobs and fair pay as decisive. The tourism strategy is to be continued beyond 2025 and location marketing expanded. The SPD expects the trade fair, convention, and culture forum to boost growth, jobs, and the events industry.

The SPD wants to improve the transfer of research results into Saarland companies, especially small and mid-sized ones. To that end, 20 million euros are to go into the CISPA Innovation Campus, and clusters linking business and science are to be funded.

Saarland has many research institutes. The SPD wants companies to use their ideas. This should create new jobs. The state will spend 20 million euros on a new campus for IT firms.

The CISPA Innovation Campus is to offer space for spin-offs and new firms in IT, information security, and artificial intelligence. A transformation network for the automotive and supplier industry is to connect companies and universities and help with funding applications. The East Side Fab is to be networked nationally and internationally. Cooperation with Luxembourg is planned to make high-performance computing available to Saarland firms. The Zentrales Technologieprogramm Saar is to support mainly small and mid-sized companies.

The SPD wants to strengthen Saarland as a place to start a business. The Co:hub66 is to act as a central hub for advice and capital, and a stipend is to fund promising founders for one year.

The SPD wants to help people start a company. There is a central place for advice. Good ideas get money from the state for one year. Firms from abroad should also come to Saarland.

According to the program, the Co:hub66 also targets creatives, freelancers, and solo self-employed people, offering initial and in-depth advice, access to venture capital, and help with going international. Accelerator programs, short-term stipends, and grants for licenses and intellectual property rights abroad are planned. A dedicated contact point is to serve companies with plans abroad and outside start-ups. Funding programs for start-up and growth financing and for investment and regional aid are to provide the money.