25/07/2005 2:35:03 pm
Sozial ist, was Arbeit Schafft! A country with very low growth, falling rate of employment, increasing dependency on government and deteriorating public finances needs a change. The CDU/CSU have now presented their "Regierungsprogramm" in Germany before the elections, which will almost certainly take place on September 18th. What happens in Germany will affect all of Europe; their ability to reform will encourage or discourage other Western European countries.

The CDU/CSU programme focuses on growth, work and security. It starts off with a clear message that globalisation and the emerging knowledge society provide opportunities, not threats. If Germany changes, of course it can again - like other countries today - become a country with more companies, more jobs and a growing economy. The programme has quite a few concrete measures for a flexible labour market, lower taxes and de-regulations. Steps in the right direction, but still only hints of what will have to come after the election.

One worrying sign might have been that the programme speaks of a "social market econmy" and strengthening social security. Usually, that signifies the view that the state should continue to provide all welfare services, and that there should be no cuts in tax-financed transactions to people that are not working. But there is a key sentence: "Sozial ist, was Arbeit schafft!". That is, social means everything that leads to job-creation.

Thus it is a social meaure to make work more profitable by cutting various benefits. It is a social measure to make the labour market more flexible, since more companies dare to emply people. Etc. Since it creates jobs, it is social. This is perfectly correct in my view - jobs must be the number one priority - and it is a clever way to reclaim the word "social".

Read the programme here (in German, pdf) - >