With the vote of confidence behind us, and Germany firmly on track for a national snap election on February 23rd, political parties are now in full-blown campaign mode.
The major parties released their campaign programmes on Tuesday, which are long documents outlining their major priorities and goals, as well as the policy proposals they’d like to get passed in the coming term if they make it into the governing coalition.
There are also plans for debates to take place on TV, with two planned for February between Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the SPD, and the CDU's Friedrich Merz.
So what are Germany’s major parties talking about as we head into 2025?
Here’s a roundup of each party’s major proposals, with a focus on those that will impact foreign nationals living in Deutschland.
Social Democrats - SPD
Olaf Scholz is once again the chancellor candidate for the centre-left Social Democrats. While polls suggest that it is unlikely for Scholz to win a second term - and for the SPD to remain the leading party in the next coalition - there is a good chance that they will be an important piece of the future cabinet.Â
The Social Democrats are emphasising better wages, stable pensions and benefits such as free school lunches in their campaign.Â
Directly relevant to residents in Germany are proposed tax changes. According to DPA, the SPD suggests it will reduce taxes for 95 percent of all taxpayers (although exact details are currently unknown).
But the SPD’s campaign programme does call for higher taxes for high earners.
Also, the SPD wants to reduce the VAT (value added tax) on foods by two percent – from seven percent to five. This would amount to a price reduction of just a few cents per item bought at the supermarket, but would add up to significant savings on food costs for consumers in time.
READ ALSO: Which Christmas foods are more expensive in Germany this year?
Other SPD goals related to easing the cost-of-living for German residents include fixing the pension level, extending the rent brake, raising the minimum wage and other relief measures for parents.
The SPD also said it wants to control illegal immigration but added that ageing Germany is "a country of immigration" that needs foreign labour and values "diversity and tolerance".
Overall the SPD’s platform could be reasonably summed up as being pro-social welfare and defence spending. Chancellor Scholz has recently argued for the end of Germany’s debt-brake - which limits the amount of money the government can borrow - specifically to allow for more spending on security.
As reported by RND, Scholz said in a speech this week, “I am fighting to ensure that we ensure the modernisation of our country…and do something for security."
The SPD does draw a line at sending long-range missiles to Ukraine. Scholz has doubled down on this stance again and again, suggesting, "Germany and NATO must not themselves become parties to the war".
READ ALSO: 'Fight for every job' - Social Democrats appeal to workers in German election manifesto
Christian Democratic Party and Christian Social Union - CDU/CSU
The conservative centre-right Union bloc is employing a different strategy altogether. Party leaders say their programme is more concerned with economic policy, suggesting they will incentivise work.
Regarding income tax, the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the CSU, want to gradually reduce the income tax rate – suggesting the highest tax tier would be 42 percent and would be limited to higher incomes.
The Union’s programme also mentions that it wants to repeal a number of policies brought in by the previous 'traffic light' coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
According to the Union’s draft programme, the party wants to repeal cannabis legalisation, the electoral law reform and the heating system replacement law (which had already been significantly watered down).
The party has also suggested abolishing long term unemployment insurance (Bürgergeld) – to be replaced by a new form of unemployment pay with stricter rules – and creating tougher barriers for asylum seekers.
The CDU also takes a hard line on migration, and emphasises 'Leitkultur' or leading culture. A line from their manifesto reads, "We are creating better starting opportunities by offering a wide range of German and integration courses. It must be clear to everyone that integration will not succeed without the German language."
The party also explicitly says in its manifesto that it stands in opposition to Germany's dual citizenship rules, which were adopted this year. It also takes aim at the opportunity to get German citizenship after three years for those who have exceptional integration and German skills.Â
"We are reversing the express naturalisation of the 'traffic light' (government), as well as the general possibility of dual citizenship," the party programme states. "The German passport is the end of the integration process, not the beginning."
READ ALSO: Citizenship to BĂĽrgergeld - The laws the German CDU want to scrap if they win power
As The Local has reported, even if the CDU does take a leading role in the next government, they still may not be able to revoke all of these laws. To do so they would need enough support from their future coalition partners, as well as the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
The Greens
A report by Taz on the left-leaning Green party’s campaign programme summed it up with the headline, “Economy before climate”.
Having taken a beating in some recent regional elections, the Green party seems to have found a new strategy – to focus on voters’ bank accounts.
In this aim, quite a few of their ambitions overlap with those of the SPD, such as raising the minimum wage to €15 per hour.Â
The Greens also join the SPD in calling for higher taxes on the highest earners. Specifically in the form of a “billionaires tax”, according to statements made by Vice Chancellor and Green top candidate Robert Habeck on the Bild am Sonntag programme at the weekend.
Habeck suggests that taxing a small part of billionaires' assets could create a fund worth several billion euros which could be used to fund schools.
The Greens’ manifesto also mentions “Klimageld” (climate money), which is money from corporate carbon taxes to be redistributed to residents, as well as subsidies for e-cars and further support for low income families.
READ ALSO: INTERVIEW - 'Failed climate policies are fuelling far-right politics in Germany'
Free Democrats Party - FDP
Following the high profile sacking of Finance Minister Christian Lindner, and the revelation that the FDP had plotted to bring down the last government coalition, it seemed as if the FDP had little hope of keeping their place in the next Parliament. But the party is not yet out of the running, and they seem to be hoping to woo enough high-income voters to remain.Â
If the FDP manages to win at least five percent of the vote in February, the CDU could consider trying to work with them – instead of the Greens for example – which would give the two parties a better shot at implementing fiscally conservative policies.
Among the FDP’s policy ideas: a cheaper tariff option for insurance contributions.
Former Finance Minister Christian Lindner suggests there should be an option to contribute less “and consequently get a lower entitlement to unemployment benefits”.
The FDP also strongly backs the debt-brake, which had made it very difficult for the traffic light to fund policy proposals and ultimately led to the government collapse.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED - Why Germany may finally reform its debt brake
The Left party
The Left party, called Die Linke in German, could also be eliminated from the German parliament if they fail to win at least five percent of the national vote in February.
Recent surveys have shown the Left party polling between three and four percent - the party took a significant blow when Sahra Wagenknecht withdrew to start her own party and brought many former Left party members with her.
The party's campaign program is largely focused on lower rents and the cost of living issues.
Whereas the SPD wants to reduce VAT on groceries by two percent, the Left would see taxes on groceries reduced to zero. Also going a step further on the pension issue, the Left party calls for reducing the retirement age from 67 to 65.
The Left also supports raising the minimum wage, and says it would not support any further restrictions on asylum seekers.
Kicking off the current campaign, the Left party has launched a website where tenants can check their heating bills. According to party leader Jan van Aken, random checks have shown that one in five German heating bills are incorrect.
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - BSW
If the recent state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg are any indication, Sahra Wagenknect's new BSW could be a force to reckoned with in the coming election.
But it remains to be seen if the party, which has been criticised for having close ties with Russia, can win significant votes in the west or the south.
When it comes to social welfare, the BSW is partially aligned with the SPD or the Greens on a number of issues, including: raising the minimum wage, maintaining the pension level and creating exceptions to the debt brake.
However, the BSW calls for the abolition of carbon taxes and subsidies for renewable energy development.
On immigration, Wagenknecht also draws a hard line: "Anyone entering from a safe third country has no right of residence".
And on defence, the BSW wants to see the end of all military aid to Ukraine. Hence the criticism of being aligned with Russia's interests.
Alternative for Germany - AfD
As it stands, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has almost no hope of joining the next coalition government because other German parties refuse to work with them, viewing their extremist politics as a threat to democracy. This unwritten rule is often referred to as the 'firewall' (Brandmauer) against the far-right.
But the AfD has gained significant support among voters - coming in second place behind the CDU in recent national polls. So it's worth keeping an eye on them.
The party's draft election manifesto is full of their established nationalist takes: the AfD wants Germany to leave the EU and abolish the euro.
It also denies climate change and advocates for more coal power - as well as more nuclear power and resuming the inflow of Russian gas. It takes a similar view on Russia as the BSW, calling for the end of sanctions on Russia and the end of military support for Ukraine.
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