The Chancellor candidate of the CDU and CSU, Armin Laschet, viewed the decision of the European Union not to allow any new vehicles with combustion engines in the EU from 2035 onwards.

"You have to be careful and look at it very carefully, especially since these questions are negotiated between October and December," said Laschet in Stuttgart at an event by Südwestmetall, the association of the metal and electrical industry, and alluded to the fact that the negotiations were over the European Commission's “Fit-for-55” climate program will take place if coalition negotiations are presumed to take place in Berlin.

Rudiger Soldt

Political correspondent in Baden-Württemberg.

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Laschet made it clear that, from his point of view, the federal election is about a directional decision: it is about preserving the industrial location, the continued existence of the automotive, steel, aluminum and glass industries.

Other parties wanted to tame the economy with excessive regulations and the "Corona method".

"We will only get out of the crisis through economic growth," said Laschet.

Unfortunately, there are many people in the public service and in public service broadcasting who would prefer to maintain some of the ordinances and regulations owed to the pandemic.

Criticism of the Chancellor

In the speech, Laschet repeatedly distinguished himself from the Greens without naming Green politicians or the party. He only praised the Baden-Württemberg Greens for their pragmatism. “We want to keep the added value here. Is the climate really good if the steel is produced in India? ”Asked the candidate for chancellor and North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister. Germany only accounts for two percent of global CO2 emissions.

If Germany loses its prosperity in the climate crisis, then no country in the world will follow the German path in achieving the climate target.

“That is only possible in a market economy.” That is why there is a downright obligation to maintain economic prosperity, also in terms of climate protection goals.

The aim must be to make Germany a climate-neutral industrialized country, the other parties would not answer the question of how one actually wants to accompany this structural change.

Laschet was critical of the energy policy of the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU): It would have been better, said the Chancellor candidate, if Germany had first abandoned coal and lignite mining and later abandoned nuclear energy.

With medium-sized entrepreneurs in Baden-Württemberg and in the CDU regional association, Laschet was neither particularly popular nor well-known until his election as candidate for chancellor;

When it came to the question of the CDU chairmanship, Friedrich Merz from Baden-Württemberg had the strongest support.

In the federal election campaign, it is particularly important for Laschet to increase his awareness and popularity, especially in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

No "cold heart"

Regarding the tax cut demands brought into discussion by the CSU at the closed meeting in Seeon, the Union Chancellor candidate said: "If we have room to maneuver, we will create relief for people with lower or middle incomes." -Pandemic not too. He also shows no "cold heart" in tax policy, said Laschet. If you limit the corporate tax to 25 percent, then “neither poor nor rich” will benefit from it. If he read that there was a mood of change in Germany, then he could say yes: "There will be a new chancellor and a new majority constellation," said Laschet confidently.

Overall metalworker Stefan Wolf was critical of the Brussels decision on the future of combustion technology: “At least 2030 will not be what some wanted. We have landed at 2035. ”However, it is a mistake by the European Commission to make the expansion of a charging infrastructure for e-cars and vehicles with hydrogen drive dependent on the market penetration of such cars in the respective EU member states. That is the old "chicken and egg problem". "Then the southern Italians will continue to drive their cars with combustion engines in 2035, I don't know whether that will help the climate," said Wolf.

The chairman of Südwestmetall, Wilfried Porth, demanded more reliability from the future federal government. “It is not expedient to just keep setting more ambitious targets and shortening deadlines. At the same time, ways must be shown and the framework conditions created in order to be able to achieve these goals at all without losing the social and economic balance, ”he said in Stuttgart. Südwestmetall is “fundamentally” committed to the goal of a “sustainable and climate-neutral economy”, but these goals can only be achieved with a strong economy.