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WORLD:
Mr. Ploß, the debate about the ban on single-family houses, as some Greens have in mind, has caused a stir.
But there are also CDU politicians who prefer to approve apartment buildings rather than single-family houses.
Are you wrong?
Christoph Ploß:
Germany's cities need a building and housing policy that focuses on mixing and makes offers to all strata of the population.
That is why we rely on social housing, but also on privately financed housing or single-family houses.
All of this is part of a livable, lively city.
"Of course, in the future, single-family houses will mainly be built on the outskirts or in rural areas"
Source: Bertold Fabricius / WELT
Many people want a home of their own.
Politicians should do everything to ensure that people can fulfill this wish.
Single-family houses that are being built today are very energy efficient and meet the highest ecological standards.
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WORLD:
Isn't it going to be enough for many people to own their own home because the environmental and climate regulations make building too expensive?
Ploß:
Of course, in the future, single-family houses will mainly be built on the outskirts or in rural areas.
City centers are certainly not the ideal place for this.
However, the question of eco-standards does not only focus on this type of building.
We have to make building significantly cheaper overall, but that doesn't have to be at the expense of energy efficiency.
The targeted designation of building land is a key to keeping prices down.
On the initiative of the CDU and CSU, we are planning to start a law right here in this legislative period.
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WORLD:
Does that mean the CDU is directing its gaze to the suburbs?
Ploß:
Many large cities still find it difficult to look beyond their own edge.
You should work more closely with the surrounding counties and communities when building.
The big cities in Germany have to see themselves more as metropolitan regions.
This is still a problem in many places, unfortunately also in my hometown Hamburg.
Even after Corona, people will work from home more often.
That is why the desire for a garden, for a balcony, for more space is noticeably increasing for many people.
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WORLD:
That sounds like the American city with its endless suburbs is your ideal.
Ploß:
I would absolutely like to avoid the so-called donut effect, meaning that hardly anyone lives in the centers anymore and even works less and less, while more and more people live in the suburbs.
Let's take a look at Italy, where you can learn how inner cities stay popular and attractive.
In Germany, too, we should ensure that inner-city living becomes more attractive and that offices are converted into apartments.
The CDU should also be an advocate for local public transport - we as the CDU / CSU parliamentary group have already done a great deal in this legislative period with record funding for the expansion of underground and S-Bahn lines.
Local public transport is the key to solving the mobility problems of big cities and creating attractive urban quarters.
Next to the bike, it is the most climate-friendly means of transport.
We will make public transport so cheap and so reliable that nobody wants to get stuck in a traffic jam.
The same applies to the expansion of cycle paths.
WORLD:
Should a photovoltaic system be used in every new building, be it an office building or a single-family house?
Ploß:
I don't want to prescribe anything.
But we have to use funding programs to ensure that home builders automatically plan the installation of a photovoltaic system.
This simply has to be a part of today's world.
Our government program should state that almost every new family house has a photovoltaic system.
WORLD:
In previous election programs, environmental policy was often far behind.
Where should it be in 2021?
Ploß:
The CDU must make climate protection a trademark;
it must be significantly higher on the agenda than before.
How we want to achieve the climate protection goals should appear up front in the government program.
A successful climate protection policy is not made with prohibitions, but with a social market economy.
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We need innovation and new technologies, we need investments in universities and research institutions.
This is the basis, for example, for building the urgently needed hydrogen infrastructure and the spread of climate-neutral fuels, which we need in shipping and aviation, for example.
Our goal must be to develop global export hits in the area of climate protection.
Together with the Hamburg energy entrepreneur Philipp Schröder, I am advocating a concept for the energy transition no longer to be financed through the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) but by issuing green bonds.
Given the low interest rates, Germany could attract investors from all over the world.
The EEG is no longer up to date.
WORLD:
Wind power is very unpopular in the CDU ...
Ploß:
We have to designate areas for wind turbines.
The only way to do it is to build more wind turbines.
In addition, we need a base load expansion for gas.
A 20 percent share of gas in the energy supply is essential.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the potential of renewable energies as follows: “What oil is to Saudi Arabia, wind is to the United Kingdom.” Other states have long recognized that a climate-friendly energy policy is now part of a sensible industrial policy - and not a contradiction in terms to her.
"Germany should become the country with the cheapest clean electricity in the world"
Source: Bertold Fabricius / WELT
WORLD:
Your chairman, Armin Laschet, said at the Political Ash Wednesday that one had to “keep an eye on ecological issues”.
And further: “We want ecology, yes, but not at the expense of industrial jobs.” Doesn't that sound very unambitious?
Ploß:
If we invest in climate protection, it is not an investment against the industrial location, but on the contrary: it strengthens the business location.
In mobility, industry and numerous other sectors, we will be switching more and more from oil to electricity in the future.
That's why my goal is: Germany should become the country with the cheapest clean electricity in the world.
If you were only to say that you want to prevent the worst from the industry's point of view, then you will appeal to few people.
This is not a contemporary approach.
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WORLD:
Has Armin Laschet been present enough since his election?
Only his sentence that new incidence values were repeatedly "invented" in the corona crisis caught the eye.
Ploß:
Armin Laschet has set numerous important accents and does it really well.
For example, he made it clear that the debt brake was not in question and rightly called for a stronger European foreign policy.
I was also pleased that he made it clear that the liberal-conservative currents should play a strong role in the CDU.
The fact that he points out in the Corona crisis that politics must focus more on collateral damage to society as a whole is also an important aspect.
Armin Laschet thinks primarily of the consequences for the younger generation, and that is correct.
WORLD:
Millions of unused vaccines are in the fridge.
And millions more will be added every week.
Can we still allow ourselves to stick to the prioritization?
Ploß:
That is unacceptable.
If people from a vaccination group do not want to have a vaccination and the vaccine is lying around unused, then the vaccination offer must be made to people from the group that is next in line.
I expect that every federal state will do its homework here and that the existing vaccination doses will be vaccinated quickly.
WORLD:
Jens Spahn has promised people free rapid tests from March 1st.
The Chancellor has now slowed that down.
The tests are now to be integrated into an overall strategy.
Are we just not trusting people enough?
Doesn't it have to become routine to test yourself before socializing?
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Ploß:
Jens Spahn does an excellent job, but sometimes things are too bureaucratic in Germany during the fight against pandemics.
Other countries are taking a more pragmatic and down-to-earth approach.
In Austria, for example, the test capacities have long been available.
This is an extraordinary crisis in which we should act more pragmatically more often.
We cannot always regulate everything down to the last detail and always answer every open question in full before we act.
Testing, along with vaccination, is key to returning to normal life.
It has to become the norm that you test yourself once a day.