There they stand, the Union harmonists, and emphasize their unity: the party leaders Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Markus Söder, fraction leader Ralph Brinkhaus of the CDU and the CSU state group chairman Alexander Dobrindt. "The state of mind at CDU and CSU, which is strong," says Söder before the meeting of the members of the Union in Berlin.

An unusual appearance. The louder and louder it is in the coalition, the more the CDU and CSU want to demonstrate in these days and weeks ahead of the important European elections, how close they are to each other.

Whether that's true is a completely different question - but at least one is united in the distance to the woman who shortly afterwards speaks into the microphones and cameras a few meters further in front of the SPD parliamentary party hall.

As a reminder: Andrea Nahles' Social Democrats and the Union form a joint federal government. But the centrifugal forces have become so strong on both sides that cooperation until the end of the legislature in the autumn of 2021 hardly seems conceivable. "With regard to the SPD, there is no longer any reliability," said CDU leader Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday. SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil countered on Tuesday: "The Union is acting unsovereign." Kramp-Karrenbauer "is sitting in the Adenauer-Haus and sees her skins swimming away," Klingbeil told SPIEGEL.

The nerves are torn to rupture.

On Tuesday evening, however, from 19 clock, but again with Angela Merkel in the Chancellery, as if there were not these constant taunts and nastiness. The coalition committee meets regularly, this is to prove how well you vote in the government.

How does that fit together? Not particularly.

And it fits less and less together, since the GroKo must limit itself when spending money: According to the tax estimate of last week gap in financial planning by 2023 a gap of 10.5 billion euros. The heart project of the SPD - the Grundrente - is thereby made just as difficult as the demanded by the Union abolishment of the solidarity surcharge.

Hayoung Jeon / EPA-EFE / REX

Union politicians Dobrindt, Söder, Brinkhaus, Kramp-Karrenbauer: "The state of mind at CDU and CSU, which is strong"

However, SPD Labor Minister Hubertus Heil wants to continue to enforce his basic pension concept without a means test - and he receives broad support from his party. Salvation plans would cost five to eight billion euros. Too much, scolds the Union, but now certainly no money is there. CDU and CSU refer to the coalition agreement, in which a basic pension with means test is noted.

CSU national group leader Dobrindt accused Heil on Tuesday of a "maximum of incomprehensible policy" - because of the idea that the basic pension may not be financed entirely from the budget, but also from the social funds. On the other hand, SPD leader Nahles emphasizes that her party is "very clear" about Heil's concept.

SPD top is under ground rent under pressure

Nahles and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz are under pressure for the basic pension, they can not give in. "Lazy compromises should not exist there," says a leading representative of the Party left. "This is a credibility tester," adds a comrade. "We have to stay tough." Labor Minister Heil intends to present a bill soon.

In any case, the Grundrente stands for the SPD against a complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge, emphasizes Nahles. That in turn is felt in the Union as a provocation. In terms of content, the CDU and CSU are now so naked that the Soli-deletion is given almost as much importance as the Grundrenten project on the SPD side. CSU boss Söder insisted on the SPIEGEL on the complete abolition of the levy.

European Election Programs 2019

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Here you see everything important to the party programs. Choose a party.

social policy

"In our Europe we rely on the power of the social market economy". This sets the tone: Equality, equal opportunities, equal living conditions within the EU are the goal - but the way there is largely open. Member States remain "responsible for social security systems, minimum wage regulations or old-age provision". In reverse, this means: "We reject a common unemployment insurance." On the other hand, it is required to end "abusive transfer of children abroad".

climate Protection

The same applies to the climate protection goals. "Our goal is qualitative, resource-efficient growth," it says, "Reason and good judgment" are emphasized in the fight against climate change and the implementation of the UN goals. Concrete demands: "the global pricing of greenhouse gas emissions and their rapid implementation, if necessary at the G20 level first" - and a "Europe-wide strategy for the prevention of plastic" and "international agreements on plastic avoidance".

asylum policy

"Our Europe protects its citizens" - under this heading, it commits itself to the "legal and humanitarian obligations" of the EU and the objective of keeping the number of refugees "permanently low". This will work through European transit and regional reception centers in North Africa. The aim is a "uniform and fast asylum procedure with the possibility to apply for asylum within the EU", the principle of safe countries of origin with accelerated procedures should be applied throughout Europe. The border protection agency Frontex wants to expand to at least 10,000 civil servants, temporary internal border controls should continue to be possible. The various EU-wide data systems want to link better.

Foreign policy / defense

"Our Europe creates peace," says the program - which calls for, among other things, an "additional, joint permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council". The transatlantic partnership wants to "revitalize and intensify again", in areas of "common interests (...) we seek cooperation with Russia". In terms of defense policy, the EU should continue to build on NATO, while at the same time putting into practice "common European armed forces by 2030" and establishing a European reaction force. These include "joint arms projects and armaments procurement."

Business / Finance

"Competition serves the well-being of the people" - so-called European champions are to be sought, from which the entire EU could benefit. "Protectionism and foreclosure we give a clear rejection," it says, but the domestic agriculture is very well protected. Fiscal policy is the goal of a stability union, without "debt and risk to be communicated", the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact should be "strictly adhered to and enforced." The Banking Union and the European Stability Mechanism ESM should be further developed and a European Monetary Fund created. The tax avoidance of international corporations wants to end.

Digital policy

"We do not stop at the fact that among the largest digital companies is not a European company" - "Strategic promotion of future technologies" to "digital world leaders of the future" arise. 5G should come across Europe with uniform IT data standards, the revision of the General Data Protection Regulation make this "innovation-friendly, forward-looking and especially for SMEs, founders and volunteers more user-friendly".

social policy

The SPD wants to mobilize its supporters with comprehensive social promises. In the individual EU countries minimum wages of 60 percent of the average wage should be introduced, in Germany one wants to increase the lower wage limit to 12 euros. Basic social rights should become binding. The SPD demands minimum education allowances and equal wages for men and women. The social and occupational safety standards should be increased, violations of employment law should be punished as severely as competition violations.

climate Protection

Under the title "Protecting the Environment and Promoting Mobility", the goal is to formulate the "social compatibility of the necessary structural changes" for environmental protection. Thus, the SPD emphasizes on the issue of brown coal withdrawal, the party also has "a great responsibility" for the affected jobs. In order to fulfill the Paris Agreement, the SPD demands an increase of the European climate protection target to at least 45 per cent greenhouse gas reduction by 2030 (base year 1990). The European Emissions Trading Scheme should be continued - for sectors that are covered by it, one wants to introduce a CO2 price.

asylum policy

"Humanitarian and Solidarity" - under this heading, the SPD calls for a reform of the Dublin system that protects war refugees and secures asylum rights. Dublin should be replaced by a "solidary distribution key". There is a need to standardize and speed up asylum procedures, and to work more together on deportations and voluntary returns at European level. For legal immigration there should be more European rules and humanitarian visas. "Disembarkation platforms" in the North African transit countries rejects the SPD.

Foreign policy / defense

Under the title "Strengthening Europe's Peace Force", the SPD demands that Europe must make every effort to save the INF disarmament treaty - despite the dismissal of US President Donald Trump. The Office of the EU Foreign Affairs Commission is to be further developed and the principle of unanimity in foreign policy decisions should be abolished. For Europe, they want a common seat in the UN Security Council and a common army, which is controlled by Parliament.

Business / Finance

Among other things, the SPD wants to pay for its plans for a social Europe by setting minimum rates against the race for the lowest corporate taxes. The different corporate taxes are to be aligned, for corporations such as Google, Apple or Amazon, a digital tax will be introduced. In the fight against tax tricks, helpers such as banks and advisory agencies want to be followed more closely, including through the establishment of a special unit modeled after Great Britain.

Digital policy

"Digitalization for all": Technology is never an end in itself, according to the program, "but always an instrument for solving major societal challenges". The SPD wants to break up the data monopolies of Google, Amazon and Facebook. For this purpose, the corporations should be obliged to share their data and make it publicly available. It should be examined whether it is possible to build up European alternatives to the US market leaders. Other goals include fast Internet, nationwide mobile communications and better IT security.

social policy

The Greens call for Europe-wide "basic unemployment insurance", but make it clear that this is a medium-term project. First of all, they advocate a Europe-wide minimum wage adjusted to the cost of living. They also demand a binding maximum salary gap in a company. With a "citizen fund" they want to strengthen the private pension.

climate Protection

"If we fail to contain the crisis, we have failed as a political generation," the Greens write about climate change. Their goal: to make Europe the world leader in climate protection. They demand a CO2 tax, a climate pass for climate refugees and the withdrawal from nuclear and coal power. At the same time, they call for special support for regions affected by the carbon sinking.

asylum policy

The Dublin system has failed, the Greens write, calling for a fair distribution mechanism for refugees across the continent. They want to create legal escape routes via generous resettlement contingents and build up a European-financed maritime rescue system. But they also write: "Of course, the EU must control its external borders and collectively protect against terrorism, trafficking in people and drugs." They also call for Europe-wide voluntary return counseling.

Foreign policy / defense

"Instead of 17 non-functional systems, we should better create a functioning system," says the goal of a common security union. It also calls for a feminist foreign and security policy and the participation of women and minorities in peace processes. The Greens believe that the EU must be a "global political player". They demand a reform of the UN Security Council: In the long term, there should be an abolition of the veto obligation, in the short term, a justification obligation. India and the EU should, according to the Greens, get a seat on the Security Council.

Business / Finance

The Greens want to spark competition for the "most ecological way of production". In addition, they want to increase the European budget - from about one percent to 1.3 percent of GDP. In order to guarantee a gender-equitable distribution of funds, they call for "gender budgeting" to be used in the future. They want the EU to be able to levy taxes themselves, such as a minimum corporate tax and a higher minimum tax on alcohol. They also want to legalize cannabis.

Digital policy

"If the EU wants, it can civilize the digital world," the Greens write. The EU needs to establish appropriate rules for machinery liability, transparency and verifiability of algorithms and prohibit search engine or filter discrimination. In addition, the Greens call for bundling knowledge at newly founded European universities and thus multiplying the power of innovation. They call for a European investment plan for fiber-optic expansion and want the EU to promote free and open Wi-Fi networks. In addition, the EU should support small and medium-sized enterprises with digitization with support programs.

social policy

Labor market and social policy wants to leave the FDP "at the core" of the Member States. A transfer union is rejected, as is a European unemployment insurance. Only in the case of issues that are "in fact of significant cross-border importance" for the internal market or the free movement of people, the EU is called upon to make arrangements, it is said. The European Social Fund should be more "targeted" against causes of unemployment, unemployment insurance and minimum wages could only be achieved through national collective bargaining and labor market policies. Private old-age provision should be strengthened by a "cross-border" access to "all offers in the EU".

climate Protection

The Liberals want a "European climate policy from a single source with coordinated goals". They reaffirm the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. One focus is seen in CO2 certificate trading. In the EU, the liberalization of the internal energy market should be completed and network expansion strengthened. Another focus of the FDP is the increased reforestation of forests in the EU. In the development of new propulsion technologies, it relies on "diversity" and a "fair competition for the technology of the future" for battery, gas, methanol and hydrogen.

asylum policy

The FDP wants a European asylum system (GEAS). "This includes the distribution of refugees" according to a binding Europe-wide distribution key "- except in those cases where there is" no stopping point. "Those who take in more refugees should receive" relief payments "from the EU budget. unequivocal and European ", including through the" No-Torture Agreement. "In the countries of origin of migration, the FDP wants to set up" humanitarian protection zones "and" hotspots "in which asylum procedures are already being implemented.

Foreign policy / defense

The FDP calls for a "true European Foreign Minister", the former High Representative of the EU should be responsible for all key areas, including neighborhood and development policy. In the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the FDP is in favor of majority decisions and also calls for a permanent "European seat" in the UN Security Council. In defense policy, the FDP relies on "building a European army under joint command and parliamentary control."

Business / Finance

Prosperity is only available to the FDP "through more free trade". The middle class remains the "backbone of the European economy" for the party. In a Europe investment plan, the European Investment Bank aims to mobilize "at least € 500 billion in additional investment commitments by 2020". A central keyword is the creation of an "Agency for Jump Innovation" that promotes "radical and disruptive" innovations. According to the US model, the agency "should also be coordinated and promoted by military means." In terms of fiscal policy, the FDP relies on a "solid policy on the euro", where all states should assume more responsibility and abide by the rules.

Digital policy

The FDP wants a "European Valley" for cross-border "special economic zones" for "digital spin-offs of companies, start-ups and spin-offs". A "Future Fund Europe" is to give venture capital to promising, young and innovative companies. In legal matters, the FDP is against a network enforcement law and upload filter, both leading to restrictions on freedom of expression and diversity in the network. The party aims for a "largely self-sufficient Europe with its own cloud providers and European privacy standards".

social policy

For the left, "neo-liberal politics" is enshrined in the EU treaties - it therefore wants a "restart". For social policy this means: minimum wages up, in Germany to 12 euros. In addition, the comrades want to introduce a Europe-wide minimum pension and a minimum income, which should amount to 1050 euros in this country. The lefts are also calling for radical steps on the subject of renting: expropriation, a sharp rent-free-rent and a strengthening of social housing.

climate Protection

With their European program, the left dare the attack on the Greens. The comrades are as comprehensive as never before concerned with climate policy: the way of life of humans must change radically. They call for the coalition exit by 2030, plead for car-free inner cities and for a free public transport. By 2040, energy will only come from renewable sources. Large energy companies want to expropriate.

asylum policy

Limiting immigration or yet "open border for all people"? The asylum dispute had plunged the Left into an identity crisis in recent years. Now the advocates of an unconditionally liberal immigration policy have prevailed. According to the program, the party is resisting the "false distinction" between political and economic refugees. The comrades are campaigning for legal escape routes, the European border protection agency Frontex want to dissolve them, to launch a rescue program. Deportations are rejected.

Foreign policy / defense

"We want a union of disarmament and demilitarization," says the program. Above all, the party advocates a ban on arms exports, rejecting foreign deployments by the Bundeswehr. Germany is to step out of NATO's "military structures", in the long run the comrades want to dissolve the alliance. Again and again the program is about Russia. Security in Europe can only mean security with Moscow. That is why the Left is calling for an end to EU sanctions against Russia.

Business / Finance

The left want to radically redistribute in order to keep their social and climate-political promises. They therefore demand Europe-wide minimum taxes for corporations, tax havens want to dry out, nationalize key industries. The financial sector should be completely turned around. That means smashing big banks and "commit to a business model based on the model of the savings banks and cooperative banks".

Digital policy

The Left is campaigning to "guarantee the triad of net neutrality, privacy and modern copyright." Public infrastructure should not be sold to tech companies. In addition, the party pleads for an "open, solidary and free Internet". Data retention is rejected by the comrades, people should not "become the object of state data surveillance".

social policy

It is hardly surprising that the AfD combines its "fair and just social policy" with the question of migration, the focus of the party. The "uncontrolled mass immigration of insufficiently qualified people to Germany, but also to other EU countries" must therefore be prevented. In addition, measures are called for "wage and social dumping" through EU internal migration. Thus, the "abuse of loan and work contracts" of foreign workers in Germany should be prohibited. The AfD opposes a European unemployment insurance and a European Employment Agency.

climate Protection

Here, the AfD has a unique selling point: it is doubtful that humans have been able to significantly influence or even control the "recent climate change, in particular the current warming". "Climate protection policy is therefore a wrong path," says the program. The AfD rejects the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as "all EU measures that justify the reduction of CO2 emissions with climate protection". The AfD also wants Germany to participate again in the "development of novel types of nuclear reactors".

asylum policy

EU elites and institutions are pursuing an "asylum and immigration policy that puts European civilization in existential danger," writes the AfD. The asylum and immigration policy wants to return them to the "competences of the member states" and reintroduce national border controls "permanently". Binding refugee quotas are rejected, which meant a "serious interference" in national sovereignty. Instead, the AfD wants "on-site protection centers" in migration countries and a "near-home care of real refugees". In Germany and the EU, a "remigration program of the largest scale" must be set up.

Foreign policy / defense

The AfD wants to strengthen the "European pillar" in NATO, therefore rejects the creation of a European army "strictly". It is also against the "precursor of a European army", the "Permanent Structured Cooperation" (Pesco) supported by the Federal Government and the use of EU Battle Groups and joint EU staff - as well as a European Defense Fund.

Business / Finance

From the point of view of the AfD, the EU should work for free trade and open markets. In the case of domestic problems in the context of free markets, there should be 'where appropriate' national compensatory measures. The further membership in the euro zone "in the current form" is not to be expected the "German taxpayer". The AfD wants to campaign for "the optional reintroduction of national currencies" - including the German mark - as a "correction" of the "catastrophic aberration of the euro". EU taxes are rejected as well as an EU Ministry of Finance.

Digital policy

The AfD criticizes the digitization strategies of the EU, because they "always include monitoring and censoring measures". Measures for informational self-determination and encryption technologies are supported, but "regulatory measures with a sense of proportion" would have to be carried out. At EU level, IT skills in research and development should be strengthened - for new, competitive "European hardware and software".

Decisions are likely in the evening at the Chancellery on either topic: There is some evidence that Heil will present his Grundrenten concept until after the European elections on 26 May, only then the concrete dispute within the coalition can begin about it, before the Social Democrats are allowed to refuse deeper discussions about the future of Soli.

Instead, Finance Minister Scholz in the coalition committee to give more accurate insights into the financial planning based on the new tax estimate, also wants the GroKo agree on an improvement in working conditions for parcel delivery. The Union is ready to do so, while bureaucratically relieving small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, they want to discuss further steps of the so-called Climate Cabinet, which will develop statutory provisions on climate protection.

There can be no question of business as usual

Government business as usual, then? Hardly likely. By the time of the European Elections Sunday, at which time a new citizenship in Bremen and municipal parliaments in numerous federal states will be elected, nothing will happen. But then there is a kind of Kassensturz. Result: open - depending on how the GroKo parties perform.

If it becomes disastrous for the SPD, anything is possible, including a debate over the exchange of party leadership and the withdrawal from the coalition - even if Nahles on Tuesday assures that the alliance is "endangered by no result". In any case, the Cabinet will be reshuffled in any case, as Justice Minister Katarina Barley will move to Strasbourg or Brussels as the SPD top European candidate.

If you really still rely on this coalition, the Union could use the opportunity to exchange weak cabinet members such as Minister of Education Anja Karliczek or Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier and thus generate new momentum. However, ideas are now also circulating in the CDU leadership to apply the SPD request in the coalition agreement enshrined revision clause itself to step out of the government and thus to improve the chancellor ambitions of CDU leader Kramp-Karrenbauer.

But it is not so far yet. No website wants to burst the GroKo yet. Not yet.


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