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Why it is The Union and the SPD have had some success in their cooperation – but hardly anyone talks about it.(Photo: imago / photothek)
Friday, October 26, 2018
By Benjamin Konietzny
During the election of Hesse, the CDU also threatens a ploy for their work at the federal level. Many people are unhappy with that. But is the Great Coalition really only in the long-term dispute – or are there also content-related successes?
When CSU registered its worst result in more than 60 years during the Bavarian election about two weeks ago, one of the many reasons for the recession seemed quickly identified: it was not only a memo for the CSU, but also for the Great Coalition in Berlin. Sunday in Hesse is elected and, according to forecasts, the CDU could be crushed by about 10%. Even this could mean the worst result of an election in a state since the 1960s. The reflex should follow: the result of the election of Hesse is also a testimony of the poor work of the Great Coalition within the federal government.
But is the cooperation between the SPD and the Union really so bad? Or the public differences between Merkel and Seehofer, between the union and the SPD, debates within the staff distort the image of a work actually successful in terms of content? "We have already implemented a significant number of legislative proposals and will continue to do so," said the executive director of the EU's parliamentary group, Michael Grosse-Brömer. According to him, there is a problem: "almost nobody talks about it."
Is this true, what does Grosse-Broomer say? For example, in coalition talks early in the year, parties fought for a common health policy. And even if the SPD could not finally take it with their civil insurance claim, the goals of the contract are ambitious. What has become of it? The Nursing Profession Act has already been pbaded by the Bundestag. It will reform training in the health professions and come into effect next year. Starting in 2020, trainees in the health sector will no longer have to pay for their own studies. Just last week, the Bundestag approved a law that reinstates parity of health insurance contributions and frees up to 38 euros per month and self-employed workers up to 150 euros.
The issue in the coalition negotiations was also ambitious demands for additional care positions. 8,000 new jobs need to be created, says the contract. In the meantime, this number has been revised upward: 13,000 now have to be paid significantly by the billions of compulsory health insurance reserves. Currently, the Bundestag recommends the relevant law, the government expects that a majority be obtained by the end of the year. Physician fees are also discussed in the coalition agreement. However, as the SPD and the Union could not agree on alignment, they agreed on a commission of experts. She started working in August and will receive the first recommendations by the end of 2019. At least in the area of health policy, the GroKo can certainly give results.
But recognition does not seem to exist among voters. According to the trend of ARD Germany, only 1% of Germans are "very satisfied" with the work of the government in general and at least 23% are "satisfied". However, the vast majority, 76%, are "less satisfied" or "not at all satisfied". And while there is convincing evidence in the area of health policy, citizens also give unambiguous badessments in this area: only 32% say they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied". Approval notes from the minister responsible, Jens Spahn, are similar: 31%.
"We do not work in secret"
Why is success marketing not working? Grosse-Brömer seems a little lost. "I barely understand that there is so little talk about it, which has a direct financial impact on people, especially the low-income self-employed," he said about the company. relief from contributions to health insurance. Maybe the Union is talking too little about what has been achieved? "We do not work in secret." Grosse-Brömer gives other examples: "We have created thousands of new jobs at the Federal Police, BKA, Zoll," he said. In the coming years, about five billion euros would be invested in the extension of Kita, the construction of 13,000 kilometers of new highways and, ultimately, a balanced budget, the "black zero" .
The Baukindergeld, a request from the CDU in the coalition negotiations, seems to be a success – at least quantitatively. Less than a month after the start of the financing program, KfW Bank announced receiving about 25,000 applications representing a funding volume of more than 500 million euros. Nevertheless, he praised the critics of the program: taxpayers, the opposition, the Federal Court of Auditors. Among other things, it has been criticized that for low-income families, the purchase of a home is not in question. That's why this project did not even work, says Grosse-Brömer: "Sociopolitics is not all we tackle.You must also do something for families in the middle of the society."
Other projects are more difficult to implement. A bill concerning the heart of the Social Democrats has not yet been introduced: fewer fixed-term work contracts without real reason. The GroKo also decided to abolish the solos. And there are still many unanswered questions about escape and migration. The anchor centers decided in the coalition agreement only exist in the form of pilot projects in Bavaria. The states of North Africa that declared the GroKo declare their safe countries of origin are currently failing the resistance of the Greens to the Bundesrat. Until now, there is only one document on key issues for an immigration law. And a law aimed at facilitating asylum procedures before the administrative courts is still pending.
The dangerous paradox of the SPD
Immigration is considered by the main opposition party, AfD, as the most urgent political problem. And for the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Seehofer, this seems to be a matter of heart. "Migration is undoubtedly a very important subject," said Grosse-Brömer. "But it does not matter if we're just talking about migration, and we're missing out on other issues where we're actually doing something for people."
In total, it does not do justice to the work of the Union and the SPD to limit it to only labor disputes and disputes between Merkel and Seehofer. On the other hand, a look at Hesse shows that on Sunday, not only will the CDU receive a certificate for its work in the Federation, as it will be able. The black-green coalition in Wiesbaden has been quietly dealing with many topics over the past five years. Public quarrels almost never happened. Should GroKo not do the same? "Federal politics can not necessarily be compared to state policy, but the coalition in Hesse has undoubtedly worked well and in a spirit of trust," Grosse-Brömer said.
And cooperation with the SPD coalition partner in the Bund? The politician of the CDU limits his answer to the group leaders: "Volker Kauder and Andrea Nahles had a good relationship of trust and, as I see it up to now, Ralph Brinkhaus and Nahles have the same thing". How frustrating electoral results for the SPD affect the work of the coalition? Is it visible? "We already notice some nervousness," says Grosse-Brömer.
Even the SPD is threatening a debacle in Hesse. It could go from a little over 30% to 20% in the last election and thus lose more influence. It may also be because the Social Democrats have been suffering from a paradoxical phenomenon for some time. At the federal level, the party was able to enforce the central concerns of the last legislature: marriage for all, the minimum wage, the rent brake, the quota for women. However, party voters did not thank him. The successes are apparently no longer linked to the SPD. The UDC could threaten similar development. In Hessen, the Christian Democrats have held many election promises in the GroKo at the federal level, far more than a long-term dispute. But many voters are turning away anyway. The search for the cause of the problem continues. Or it has already been found, but is not thematized. Because that might mean a new staff debate.
Source: n-tv.de
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