Germany’s Green Party has sharply rejected the economic and social policy agenda proposed by the Union, Agenda 2030. In a press conference in Berlin, the party’s leader, Felix Banaszak, criticized the plan, saying it would turn Germany into a “museum of industry.” He added that the consequences of the CDU’s proposals would be that Germany would no longer be a player in the global economic landscape, and that the country would miss the future by abandoning climate policies.
Banaszak also expressed concerns about the international climate agreement, stating that the US president, Donald Trump, is likely to undermine the effort and that Germany needs to take a strong stance in the international arena. He emphasized the importance of a strong European economy in the face of global competition.
The Green Party’s own campaign theme is to address the issue of inflation, with plans to reduce the cost of the Germany ticket and implement an inflation adjustment for parental benefits. The party’s leader also criticized the proposal to tax capital gains and social security contributions, saying it would not affect small savers but rather those who rely on their capital to make a living.
Banaszak also renewed his party’s criticism of the exclusion of their candidate, Robert Habeck, from the TV debate organized by ARD and ZDF. He described the debate between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the CDU’s candidate, Friedrich Merz, as a “duel between yesterday and today” with Habeck representing the future. The Green Party leader called on Scholz to take a position in the debate and noted that his predecessor, Annalena Baerbock, had previously considered it a given that all major candidates would participate in the TV debate, regardless of their poll numbers.