Black and red among themselves: Exam in the house on the lake: cabinet wants to start

Almost five months after his swearing-in, the black and red federal cabinet comes together for its first closed conference to find new team spirit after a bumpy start. In terms of content, the two -day consultations in Villa Borsig am Tegeler See in northwestern Berlin should primarily be about reducing bureaucracy and competitiveness of the German economy.

“Some of the companies stand with their backs to the wall or with their foot on the abyss. And that’s why we have to quickly come to the results here,” warned Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) before the start of the exam. On Wednesday, a modernization agenda for the state and administration is to be decided, which should reduce bureaucracy costs by 25 percent or 16 billion euros, for example by reducing federal personnel by 8 percent.

The place: industrial villa instead of baroque lock

The choice of the conference location is a statement. The traffic light government had withdrawn 70 kilometers north of Berlin for its cabinet exams to Meseberg Castle. In the Federal Government’s guest house, Olaf Scholz (SPD), Robert Habeck (Greens) and Christian Lindner (FDP) sworn several times not to argue as much – and then it didn’t work out again.

Perhaps this bad “spirit of Meseberg” has ensured that the black and red cabinet now prefers to stay in Berlin. A former industrial villa from the early 20th century also fits better with the “no-frills work coalition”, which Merz once proclaimed than a baroque castle in the country. The Chancellor tried the guest house of the external office on a peninsula in the Tegeler See when visiting French President Emmanuel Macron – and found it to be good.

Unlike in Meseberg, Merz and his 17 ministers will not spend the night on the premises. However, there should be a sociable part of the exam. After the work program at 7 p.m., a meal is planned.

The goal: new team spirit

Chancellor’s election only on the second attempt, failed judge election, dispute over the electricity price reduction: The start of black and red was bumpy and had the Union and SPD slipped in the surveys. With no institute, the coalition currently comes to a majority. Instead, the AfD is already the strongest party.

Since the summer break, the coalitioners have been trying to get the curve and create a new team spirit. A joint closed conference of the Union and SPD parliamentary group leaders in Würzburg started in August. This was followed by a joint journey of the parliamentary group leader to Kiev, a barbecue evening by the coalition members in Berlin and finally a visit to the party leaders at the Oktoberfest in Munich. So now the cabinet exam in the villa on the lake.

The content: the focus on modernization agenda

On the first day, it is about competitiveness, to which several guests from business and research should present. Specifically, a budget and financial policy for more growth, less commercial barriers, less regulation, a smart environmental and climate protection and the modernization of the infrastructure should be spoken.

There should only be specific decisions on the second day of the exam. Then the cabinet will launch a modernization agenda for the state and administration. The leading minister for state modernization and digital, Karsten Wildberger (CDU), explained in advance that it was about around 80 individual measures. Among other things, there will be a uniform portal for the online approval of cars in the future. So far, the federal states and local administrations themselves regulate. The establishment of a digital bureaucratic field deportal is also planned, where citizens can make concrete suggestions for improvement.

In addition, training courses and AI tools are in conversation for employees of the ministries who develop legal texts, so that more practical and low-bureaucracy arises. In Wildberger’s Ministry it is pointed out that it is not about doing everything better in one fell swoop. “Such a change, if a country has been knotted, a bit over so many, let’s say 20 years, 25 years, I don’t know exactly, then it will be a process,” says the former MediaMarktsaturn-Banager Wildberger.

After the exam in the villa, you go back to everyday life with the really big challenges. The reforms in the social and health area are the actual test for the coalition. However, commissions are currently dealing before the government lends a hand. As a precaution, the Chancellor has converted the “autumn of reforms” into the four-season reform. “It will be a winter, a spring, a summer, next autumn with reforms,” ​​he said recently in the Bundestag.