Corona: "Always only hear opening, opening, opening" - Kretschmann is annoyed

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The head of government himself suspected that his appearance at the Baden-Württemberg regional association of the CDU Economic Council would not necessarily be a cozy chat Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) on Thursday at the beginning of the digital discussion event.

But the Greens and the CDU have done a lot together for the economy.

The green and black entrepreneurs only met on the screen, but they clashed quite nicely.

It was about irritating topics such as the future of the car, the ban on owning homes and - of course - Corona.

The Economic Council of the CDU is a nationwide professional association that represents the interests of entrepreneurs.

On Monday, the new CDU federal chairman Armin Laschet was a guest at the state association from Baden-Württemberg.

Laschet spoke out urgently against patronizing citizens in the corona pandemic and said that it was not always possible to invent new limit values.

He made waves nationwide and received a lot of criticism - but above all, he received applause from the Economic Council.

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After a month-long lockdown, the retail sector in particular is longing for opening perspectives.

They also made this request to Kretschmann on Thursday.

Many entrepreneurs feared for their existence, said state chairman Joachim Rudolf.

"The tough back and forth between lockdown and easing robs our strengths and becomes the bone of contention at state levels."

But Kretschmann is not Laschet - and reacted gruff and thin-skinned.

"Of course I always hear opening, opening, opening," he said.

“I only ever hear opening.

I would like to experience someone who says, now do something a little sharper.

I never hear that! ”He also had to consider the consequences for the pandemic.

"We're not closing the shops because we now have authoritarian appetites."

Kretschmann expressed understanding that the burden on retail was enormous and that the mood in the basement was enormous.

A third wave, which is even worse than the second, could not be in the interests of the economy.

“Then we do a real lockdown - it didn't even exist before.” Hygiene concepts only worked with low incidences.

In the case of a diffuse infection process, it only helps to reduce contacts.

Kretschmann attacks Laschet directly

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Kretschmann also attacked CDU boss Laschet directly because of his criticism of dealing with the pandemic.

The incidence value of 35 targeted by the federal and state governments for opening retail trade is in the Infection Protection Act, according to the Green politician.

"This is not an invented number, as Mr. Laschet suggested," says Kretschmann and adds: "If you have a problem, take a look at the law."

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The overwhelming part of the economy is currently not affected by the measures, said Kretschmann.

Only with a stable incidence of 35 - Baden-Württemberg could be the first state to reach this incidence - the retail trade will gradually reopen under specifications.

The mutants are another factor of uncertainty.

Then you might have to row back again.

"In the end it is a matter of life and death." Kretschmann appealed to the entrepreneurs: "Help us to keep the pandemic under control and it no longer gets out of hand."

"We are not heard," criticized Christoph Werner, head of the drugstore chain dm.

He called on Kretschmann to make his ministries aware that contact with the economy was being sought.

“We can't get to people.” Not all options are currently being discussed, and good solutions are not being worked out.

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Kretschmann defended his course - including a curfew, which the administrative court in Mannheim received.

“The privations are paying off.” The courts just applied different standards, he says.

Baden-Württemberg now has one of the lowest incidences among the federal states.

Winfried Hermann, a "traffic obstruction minister"?

But the discussion is not only tense when it comes to the pandemic issue.

Kretschmann rejected the accusation that Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) was a "traffic obstruction minister".

The entrepreneurs also have critical questions about the green and single-family homes debate.

"To claim that we want to ban single-family houses is just silly," said Kretschmann.

That is not true and is also a completely backward-looking debate.

“We don't dictate to municipalities how they designate building areas.” It would be better to have debates about how building could be made cheaper.

The background is a “Spiegel” interview with parliamentary group leader Anton Hofreiter.

The political opponent is therefore currently accusing the Greens of wanting to ban single-family houses.

“He didn't say that,” said Kretschmann.

Kretschmann also defended his economic policy, spoke a lot about decarbonization and digitization, the two big drivers of change, and promised business people to remain open-minded. There is a need for cheaper electricity and faster approval procedures, for example for wind farms. When it comes to mobility, too, he does not ignore the market policy, but rather follows the trends and creates the infrastructural basis. "I can reassure you, we are not doing any ideology here." Kretschmann assured that he would know with the manufacturers and suppliers to prevent "that we will look into Tesla's taillights at some point". And at the end he added a few more conciliatory sentences: he had the companies in his head, the entrepreneurs could be sure that their appeals would reach him.