September 2025 |
250906 |
ENERGY CHRONICLE |
At the end of September, the CDU Economic Council presented a paper that reiterates the well-known positions of this lobby group, but takes them a step further: in the area of energy policy, it now calls for a “decommissioning moratorium” for nuclear power plants in conjunction with a “comprehensive plan for the reconstruction” of decommissioned plants. Furthermore, the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the “combustion engine ban” are to be abolished. In the social sector, dental and orthodontic services are to no longer be covered by health insurance, and the retirement age is to be raised.
On September 29, Christian Geinitz, the Berlin business correspondent for the “Frankfurter Allgemeine,” reported “exclusively” on the ten-page paper, both on the front page and in the business section of the newspaper. In recent years, Geinitz has been the FAZ's most active propagandist for the revival of nuclear energy in Germany (220312, 211006). In doing so, he liked to refer to the propaganda association "Kerntechnik Deutschland" (Nuclear Technology Germany), which was directed by representatives of Russia's Rosatom and France's Framatome.
It was remarkable, however, how Geinitz now cautiously distanced himself under the headline “CDU Economic Council: More nuclear power, less social welfare” in order to be seen not as a propagandist but as a critical messenger of a message that is likely to be perceived within the CDU as an additional strain on an already rather fragile coalition peace. He criticized the “sometimes flippantly combative” language of the CDU Economic Council when, for example, it demanded that basic social security benefits be “trimmed back.” In his accompanying commentary for the FAZ business section, he even predicted that this initiative by the right-wing business lobby would fail in the face of political reality, even though it was actually justified and sensible:
"The Economic Council is right to call the CDU to order. (...) The proposals on nuclear power, which are correct in themselves, are illusory because the time has passed, not least at the instigation of the CDU. Nor will it ever be possible to completely remove dental treatment from the list of services covered by health insurance. But it is urgently necessary to remind the Union of its responsibility for market-based regulatory policy and to dare to say: ‘Society will accept cuts if it is made unequivocally clear to it how serious the situation is.’ But for that to happen, the Union and the SPD would first have to understand it themselves. Unfortunately, they do not, which is why the muddling through continues."
"What a few conservatives are hypocritically selling as a ‘reform agenda’ is nothing more than class warfare from above," said DGB board member Anja Piel, commenting on the initiative of the right-wing economic clique. "While millions of people increase the prosperity of this country every day with their work, some of the profiteers of the system apparently dream of pulling the social security rug out from under the same employees in order to make even more profit."
The “CDU Economic Council” describes itself as the “voice of the social market economy.” It thus uses the same guise as the neoliberal propaganda organization “Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft” (INSM), which was founded 25 years ago by the metal and electrical industry (“Gesamtmetall”). As Lobbypedia clarifies, despite its name “Economic Council of the CDU” – the association sometimes even calls itself “Economic Council of Germany” – it is not an internal party committee. Nor do its members reflect the entire spectrum of business interests. Nevertheless, the association's president – currently Astrid Hamker – remains an advisory member of the CDU party executive. The association thus stands for “a problematic fluid transition between party and lobby association” (PDF).
When a CDU member sued the CDU's federal executive committee for lobbying in the federal party court, the party court dismissed the lawsuit in April 2023 on the formal grounds that the plaintiff's rights had not been personally violated, as he had not been a party conference delegate nor had he participated in the election of the federal executive committee (230506). A subsequent lawsuit filed by the “Lobby Control” initiative against this decision for violation of the Political Parties Act was also unsuccessful (220309). This lawsuit was also rejected by the Berlin Regional Court in December 2024 on formal grounds. According to this ruling, CDU members must hold a more or less prominent position in the party in order to be able to sue the party executive before the party court.