CDU meeting: Merz expects a rapid positive change in mood if he wins the election

Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz is counting on a rapid positive change in mood in Germany if the Union wins the election. If you do it right and can form a successful government, “we will have a different mood in Germany for the 2025 summer break,” said the party leader after a meeting of the CDU executive board in Hamburg. Merz made it clear that significant corrections were needed after the failure of the traffic light coalition. He still sees potential for increasing approval ratings for the Union.

Six weeks before the federal election on February 23rd, Merz emphasized that the Union’s “absolute focus” in the election campaign was on economic policy. Since 50 percent is psychology here, “we have to do something with quick decisions that will improve the mood in the country again.”

Merz: Union is not running an election campaign against anyone

He is going into the hot phase of the election campaign “very, very confident”. “We are ready to take responsibility for our country. But we also know that things cannot continue like they have been for the last three years,” said Merz. What is needed is a fundamental change in economic policy, the labor market, migration, internal security and parts of foreign and security policy. CDU presidium member Jens Spahn spoke of a “Merz guarantee”. If you really want something to change, you have to make the CDU/CSU strong.

On the question of coalition options, Merz said, against the background of CSU leader Markus Söder’s repeated rejections of a black-green government, that the Union was not running an election campaign against anyone, but “for us.”

“Save the economy to save the climate”

When asked whether he wanted to sacrifice climate policy to save the economy, Merz said: “We have to save the economy so that we can continue to save the climate.” With regard to social issues, the CDU leader explained: “If we remain in recession, that is the biggest threat to pensions.” In view of allegations from the SPD, Merz made it clear again that the Union is not planning any pension cuts. Pensions could potentially increase more slowly. “The trees grow, but they don’t grow into the sky.”

About Trump: More shared opportunities than conflicts

Regarding the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Merz said that he was not “looking like a rabbit at a snake” towards January 20th. Before sending embassies to the USA, Europe should agree on a common strategy. “No point-wagging will help, only coordination, collaboration and your own strategy will help.” The following also applies to economic policy: “The more united the European side appears, the stronger the pound that we can put in the balance when it comes to the mutual adjustment of interests.”

Merz: Raised index finger has never made an impression

Merz was calm about whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) could score points in the German election campaign by criticizing Trump, as he recently did about his statements about Greenland and the Panama Canal. A publicly raised “pointing finger from Germany has never made an impression in America and has usually had the opposite effect.” Merz added with a view to Scholz: “If you want to gamble away credit, then you have to do it exactly like that.”

Union potential “in the second half of the thirties”

The Union has been clearly ahead in surveys for months – but has remained relatively unchanged at around 30 percent: According to the current ZDF “Politbarometer” it is currently exactly at 30 percent, the YouGov institute measured 29 percent. Merz had already made it clear that he also saw potential for more – and now named an order of magnitude. Today he assumes “that we are more likely to achieve an election result in the second half of the 1930s than in the first half of the 1930s.” Merz himself has planned around 80 appointments in the election campaign.

Linnemann: CDU for zero tolerance for crime

The CDU also wants to score points in the election campaign with the promise of more security. “We are committed to a zero-tolerance policy,” said Secretary General Carsten Linnemann. In view of an increase in attacks on police officers, the CDU will increase the punishment for such attacks. The increasing crime at stations and on trains shows that more video protection and the use of facial recognition software are necessary.

CDU for additional security instruments

A concept adopted by the CDU executive board in Hamburg envisages improving the equipment of the security authorities and the exchange of information between the federal and state governments. With a view to mentally ill violent criminals, the CDU wants to introduce a new category of danger. In the case of serious acts such as child abuse, Internet providers should be required to store IP addresses for at least three months.

Tougher line with foreign criminals

The CDU advocates a tougher approach to expulsions and irregular migration. Perpetrators who have been legally sentenced, including on probation, to a prison sentence – or for the second time for intentional crimes – should lose their right of residence. If it is recognized that a mistake has been made with naturalization in the case of serious crimes, it should be possible for the German passport to be revoked in the case of dual nationality – especially in the case of extremist and terrorist acts.

Merz on migration: “Objective excessive demands”

Merz made it clear that the Union would also take up limiting migration as an issue in the election campaign, as there was “objective overtaxing of our country’s possibilities”. But the CDU leader added: “It’s not a priority for us.” The number of asylum seekers will have decreased in 2024, but the numbers are still too high.