SPD on the economy

The SPD wants to form a transformation ministry that combines the economy, labor, energy, research, technology and digital infrastructure. A "Transformation Budget Thuringia" is to accompany structural change with a structural-policy stimulus. The party argues that these tasks require a single, consistent approach.

The economy is changing a lot. The SPD wants a new ministry for this. It should cover the economy, work, energy and research. There should also be a special fund for the change. Unions should have a say.

All relevant stakeholders are to be involved, with the unions seen as especially important partners. The state is to report regularly on economic and structural policy and build monitoring based on scientific studies. For industries hit hard by decarbonization, the SPD plans a strategy for skills and innovation. The transformation network ANeTT is to keep receiving funding after 2025. Regional initiatives are to get conceptual and financial support to form clusters.

The SPD wants a loan program to help small and medium-sized companies switch to CO2-free production. The Thüringer Aufbaubank (the state development bank) is to receive more equity so it can grant guarantees and low-interest loans. Work that is paid under collective agreements and subject to co-determination is to become a funding priority.

Small and mid-sized companies should produce without CO2. The SPD wants to give them loans for this. The state development bank should get more money. Companies with union-level pay should get special support. Two existing grants should be open to all commercial companies.

The platform points out that inflation and higher interest rates make financing harder for municipalities and companies. The Digitalbonus and Dekarbonisierungsbonus grants are to be opened to the whole commercial sector and funded according to need. The SPD wants to secure co-financing of EU and federal support programs. The initiative for large commercial and industrial sites is to continue and be geared to climate protection and green tech. Foreign trade promotion is to focus more on sectors and markets that can succeed long-term under the transition.

The SPD wants to substantially increase funding programs for the skilled trades and develop them further together with the chambers of skilled crafts. It argues that the economic transformation cannot succeed without tradespeople.

The SPD wants to give more money to the skilled trades. Funding should go up a lot. The trade chambers should help shape it. The SPD says the economy cannot change without tradespeople.

Existing funding programs aimed specifically at the skilled trades are to be increased substantially. They are to be developed according to need and in coordination with the chambers of skilled crafts. The platform calls the trades essential for Thuringia's economy, which is dominated by small and mid-sized firms, and points to good jobs and fair wages in all regions.

The SPD wants to back federal efforts to speed up permitting and cut red tape. The state's own funding programs are to be made simpler. The platform argues that entrepreneurship needs freedom.

The SPD wants less red tape for businesses. Permits should come faster. State funding programs should be simpler. The SPD is also willing to change rules for this.

The state is to support federal efforts to accelerate permitting procedures and reduce bureaucracy. State funding programs are to be designed more simply. Where necessary, the state budget code and the related administrative rules are to be amended.

The SPD wants Thuringia to remain the most attractive German state for founders, business successors and young companies. Advice and funding programs are to be developed further and financed on a permanent basis, and a start-up network is to be built.

The SPD wants to help people who start a business. Starting a business should be easy. Advice and funding should get steady money. People who start a business next to their job should also get help. Start-ups should be able to connect better.

Part-time founders are to be relieved through dedicated funding tools. The Thüringer Gründungsprämie (start-up bonus) is to cover hiring staff as well, and help with funding applications is to be subsidized. A start-up ecosystem with networking and shared infrastructure is planned, with public bodies acting more often as anchor customers for start-ups and social enterprises. Renovation of technology and start-up centers is to be funded, partly to reduce the loss of firms from rural regions. At the federal level, the SPD wants to push for a Start-up Factory in Thuringia.

The SPD wants more people in rural areas to be able to work where they live and commute less. To achieve this, it relies on digitalization, the expansion of renewable energy, and locating public institutions in these areas.

Many rural people travel far to work. The SPD wants more jobs close to home. Digital work and renewable energy should help. Public offices should also move to rural areas.

According to the platform, out-commuting turns municipalities into mere dormitory towns and small towns lose their retail stores. Renewable energy as an economic sector is expected to bring jobs in planning, installation, maintenance and service. In designating regional and local centers, the SPD wants functions and future regional development to count more than population size alone. Municipalities are to keep receiving staff and money for land-saving development within existing built-up areas; funding for climate and energy managers continues.

The SPD wants to fund research institutes outside the universities reliably until 2030 and create a separate pact with fixed annual increases for the state-owned institutes. Research is also to be linked more closely with companies and start-ups so that it leads to economic growth.

Thuringia has research institutes outside the universities. The SPD wants to give them secure money until 2030. The state's own institutes should get a fixed agreement. Companies and founders should be able to use research more easily.

Core funding for institutes financed jointly with the federal government is to be secured until 2030; the state pact is modeled on the "Pact for Research and Innovation." Thuringia is to receive more federal science money, for example by taking part in federal-state programs and bidding for new research institutions. The four state institutes are to sharpen their profile so they are more likely to be admitted to a nationwide research organization, if necessary with extra investment funds. Quantum technologies, storage and battery research, hydrogen and sustainable construction are to get special support. The state's start-up funding is to be reorganized, and start-ups and small and medium-sized companies are to get easy access to research infrastructure.