Saxon Minister-President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) has urgently called on the Berlin coalition to implement swift and comprehensive structural reforms, warning that a lack of action could undermine the operational capacity of entire states. Speaking to stern critic of the current approach, the CDU politician argued that piecemeal measures are insufficient, demanding instead that the center-right and red coalition adopt a major overhaul. He added that simple adjustments to existing tools would not solve the problems, stating, “We need a whole new toolbox” and cautioned that continued “class struggle rhetoric” is unhelpful when addressing issues involving the SPD and trade unions.
Kretschmer expressed deep frustration over the reform process thus far, stressing that any planned initiatives cannot follow the precedent set by the social state reforms. He pointed out that the savings achieved from previous efforts are nowhere near enough to alleviate the financial burden on increasingly strained municipal authorities. Regarding the federal government, he demanded a clear decision: the federal government must either commit to making deep cuts to services-some of which did not even exist ten years ago-or assume responsibility for the €30 billion deficit currently faced by the local governments.
Furthermore, the Minister-President issued a sober warning about the political consequences of reform failure. He cautioned that a repeat fiasco in policy efforts would likely benefit the far-right AfD party and could have “fatal consequences” during the state elections scheduled for September, potentially leaving the operational capacity of all states in question.