The President of the CDU’s Economic Council, Astrid Hamker, demands more substantive clarity from the Union’s chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz. “We can’t go into the election with a wishy-washy program” the businesswoman told the “Stern” and the Capital business magazine.
Similar high expectations are placed on the Union’s chancellor candidate by economist Stefan Kolev, head of the Berlin branch of the Ludwig-Erhard Foundation. “What Ludwig Erhard achieved was the regaining of trust in the market economy, which also enabled the German economic miracle. Today, Friedrich Merz must reconcile the German society with the market economy.” Otherwise, the local economy has hardly any future, Kolev said.
The chairman of the Ludwig-Erhard Foundation is Roland Koch, former Minister President of Hesse. Friedrich Merz is also a member. The CDU’s Economic Council is an independent business association with 12,000 members. However, the association is co-opted in the CDU’s federal board and also attends board meetings.