SPD party congress should be the starting signal in the race for the Chancellery

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Berlin (dpa) - Four months before the federal election, the SPD wants to get a boost in the race for the Chancellery with an online party conference.

At the moment, the Social Democrats and their candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz are clearly behind the Greens with Annalena Baerbock and the Union with Armin Laschet in the lead.

SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil was nevertheless optimistic before the party congress: "This will be day one of the catch-up for us in the federal election," he said.

"The race is only just starting now."

At the center of the party congress today is the program for the federal election in autumn.

Under the key words “future” and “respect”, the board's draft focuses on a reorientation of the economy towards climate neutrality and a strengthening of social coexistence.

Scholz wants to create a spirit of optimism with a speech.

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The Vice Chancellor, who was proposed as a candidate by the party leadership last August, is to be confirmed again by the 600 delegates.

The delegates are connected via the Internet.

For reasons of corona protection, essentially only the closest party leadership and the conference presidium are gathered in the Berlin party conference hall.

In surveys, the Social Democrats are lagging behind at 14 to 16 percent.

The Greens have come to 21 to 28 percent in the surveys since mid-April.

The Union achieved values ​​of 23 to 28 percent.

The Greens see the latest of these surveys ahead of the Union.

Klingbeil emphasized that for the SPD it was now a matter of "transferring the popularity values ​​and the competence values ​​that Olaf Scholz had to the SPD".

At the center of the program with which Scholz and the party want to enter the race for the Chancellery is the promise of a “society of respect”.

“We want to turn dreams into a future”, promises the SPD and names fair wages, an economy that sets global standards in a climate-neutral way, and a modern and strong welfare state.

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KLIMA: The Social Democrats spontaneously rewrote the climate chapter after the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court.

They promise climate neutrality by 2045 at the latest and also see climate protection as a job engine.

By 2040, the electricity is to come entirely from renewable energies, and power grids and charging stations for e-cars are to be expanded more quickly.

A conversion of the EEG surcharge should lower the electricity bill, and the landlords should pay the CO2 price for heating.

WORK: Twelve instead of the current 9.50 euros minimum wage and the pushing back of jobs without collective agreements should help low-wage earners.

Most of the last six million mini-jobs are to become regular jobs.

Hartz IV is to become a simpler citizen's allowance, which also “doesn't make a broken washing machine or a new winter jacket an unbearable burden”.

Apartment and assets should not be checked in the first two years.

Unemployment benefits are to be paid for long-term contributors for more than twelve months or for those over 50 for 24 months.

After three months of unemployment, a right to qualification should apply.

Overtime should be saved on personal long-term accounts.

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In the care of the elderly, the tariff will generally be used in future.

To finance this, there should be a mix of increasing tax subsidies and contributions to cover the personal contributions of those in need of care.

The number of educators and teachers is to be doubled by 2030 with more attractive conditions.

Employees of online platforms such as delivery or transport services should receive more rights and wages.

TRAFFIC: The SPD wants to expand local public transport and make buses and trains climate-neutral.

There should be more space for pedestrians and cyclists.

Rail travel in Europe should be cheaper than flying, and every major city should be reconnected to the long-distance train network - old rail lines will be reactivated.

The SPD wants a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on the autobahn.

ECONOMY: The SPD wants to work for more collective bargaining coverage, including in the skilled trades.

Fees for master classes are to be omitted.

Company founders and companies geared to the common good should be promoted.

The federal government should invest at least 50 billion euros every year.

The federal government should take the old debts off highly indebted municipalities so that they can invest better.

FINANCE: In order to be able to invest more money, the SPD wants to continue to incur debt - but only as much as the debt brake in the constitution allows.

Taxes should be fairer.

For the SPD, this means less taxes for small and medium incomes - but more for the top five percent.

There should be a wealth tax of one percent for this.

Those who have a lot of money should continue to pay the solidarity surcharge.

PENSION: The self-employed, civil servants and members of parliament should be drawn into the statutory pension and thus the pension level should be stabilized at at least 48 percent.

Instead of the Riester pension contracts, there should be a voluntary standard offer.

LIVING: If there is a shortage of housing, rents should only be allowed to rise with inflation.

When promoting home ownership, the purchase of vacant houses in town centers should also be promoted.

FAMILIES: Here the SPD wants a whole range of improvements - including a permanent expansion of the pandemic-related increased 29 childhood illness days to 20 days per child, year and parent.

Women should be represented at the top and in management levels of companies in the same way as men - otherwise sanctions should apply.

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HEALTH: The SPD wants citizens' insurance with equal access to medical care for everyone.

There should be more outpatient treatments in hospitals.

In addition, more custom-made drugs tailored to the patient should be used.

A regulated supply of cannabis to adults should be able to be tested in model projects.

INTEGRATION: In order to facilitate the integration of migrants, the general possibility of multiple nationality should be anchored in law.

DIGITIZATION: In every household and company there should be Internet with a bandwidth of at least one gigabit per second.

The federal, state and local governments are obliged to offer more digital services.

Every student should have a digital device such as a laptop or tablet.

For people with low incomes, schoolchildren and students, there should be special low internet rates.

EUROPE: The EU should be strengthened - also financially.

The taxation of large digital corporations, a CO2 levy and new income from emissions trading are intended to serve this purpose.

Climate, agriculture, work, trade: these are the fields in which the SPD wants to make the EU more ecological and more social.

It should be strengthened in asylum and crisis prevention.

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