FDP and traffic lights: Bijan Djir-Sarai calls for a rapid economic turnaround

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FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai: “We have to organize an economic turnaround in our country as quickly as possible.”

Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa

Top FDP politicians are reporting almost every day these days to increase the pressure for reforms in the traffic light coalition. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner is calling for an “update” on citizens’ money. He doubts the date for the coal phase-out in 2030 and calls for further tax relief.

One thing is clear: On the way to their federal party conference at the end of the month, the Liberals want to position themselves as a force for reform in the coalition - also with tough announcements to the SPD and the Greens. Like his party leader, FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai is now calling on the coalition partners to move. "We have to organize an economic turnaround in our country as quickly as possible in order to generate new growth and create a basis for good new jobs," he told SPIEGEL.

Under the slogan “economic turnaround,” the FDP in the coalition wants to ensure that the stagnating economy is stimulated. It is also a key message for the party conference in Berlin - and is intended to bring the Liberals forward again.

But how do the liberals imagine their much-vaunted “economic turnaround”? “This includes at least falling taxes, massive reductions in bureaucracy for companies and combating the shortage of skilled workers. Our welfare state must also become more effective,” says Djir-Sarai. “Now is not the time for small-scale thinking; we have to prioritize Germany’s competitiveness.”

Key motion for party conference

The draft of the key motion for the FDP federal party conference, which SPIEGEL recently reported on, states that the country is "currently not competitive" and that the economy is stagnating like no other industrial country. “Expanding bureaucracy, high energy prices, high levels of taxes and duties as well as an acute shortage of skilled workers are significantly slowing down the German economy,” say the Liberals.

What is therefore needed is an economic turnaround towards more growth, progress and openness to technology. It is expressly stated: "We need a departure package that goes beyond everything that has been planned so far," and the FDP will direct its "power" and "focus" to this. As can be heard from FDP circles, Lindner wants to submit his own paper with suggestions to the coalition partners. The “Handelsblatt” reported this week that around 50 points are said to be included.

In the FDP's core area, tax policy, Lindner recently announced an increase in the tax allowance for this year. In addition, according to its draft proposal, the FDP wants to reduce corporate taxes, the “effective tax burden” on corporate profits should be “a maximum of 25 percent,” and they want to “completely abolish” the solidarity surcharge, which would reduce the burden on companies by around twelve billion annually. In addition, the FDP once again assures in the draft that there will be “no weakening or even abolition of the debt brake.”

The FDP also wants to set accents in the social sector. “An oversized social budget” puts a strain on “the financial possibilities of the state and society,” it says in the application paper. Social spending made up around 46 percent of total spending in the 2024 federal budget and was by far the largest block of spending. The FDP is therefore calling for “a three-year moratorium on the welfare state.” There should be “no new social benefits” during this time.