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It should become one of the highlights of the black-red coalition: the “internal strategy of the federal government.” Active structural policy for regions that have lagged behind – that was the goal in 2018. An equivalency commission appointed by the federal, state and local governments thought many (as it turned out, probably too many) working groups how the money available in the federal budget, but also more money, should be redistributed between regions.
The symbolic expression of the political approach was the renaming of the Ministry of the Interior, now given the addition of “for the home.” Department Head Horst Seehofer (CSU) acted as head of local government policy.
To underline the importance of the project, a new department H was created in the ministry, which of course also included traditional tasks, such as spatial planning to repatriation policy. Three subdivisions with twenty units; none bigger than Department H in the Home Office.
One year before the elections, the balance sheet begins, both in the coalition and in the opposition. Stefan Schmidt, local political spokesman for the Greens, asked Seehofer’s department: What legislative initiatives with a national benchmark is the department working on and what has been its greatest success so far?
“Expectations not met”
Schmidt’s conclusion after reading the answer: “It’s a tragedy.” Seehofer could not live up to the high expectations it had raised.
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From the Greens’ perspective, the department was unable to answer either question. Parliamentary Secretary of State Stephan Mayer announced that he is involved in all ongoing projects related to the country of origin. For example, in the Telecommunications Supply Law, in which Department H is “intensely” committed to mobile and broadband coverage “in the area.”
Wide success?
The ministry does not name a single, large and successful project, but uses the initial power-up function for the entire cabinet. The greatest success of domestic politics lies in the fact that the government is no longer just selective, but interdepartmental “with a variety of measures” to maintain or create equivalent living conditions. This also characterizes the Coalition’s Corona economic stimulus package, which applies half of the € 130 billion of domestic policy measures.
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Also mentioned are support for structural change in coal regions and job creation in federal institutions in the east and structurally weak areas in the west. Berlin belongs to the east, where 3,000 of the 6,500 jobs planned for this large region are planned. A good 700 positions have already been created.
Another result of domestic policy: since April an equivalence control has been carried out for all federal laws. And the entire government support system for the regions has been simplified.
Greens lack old debt aid
Schmidt bemoans the “list of small-scale measures,” what is missing is the big. “Spreading warm words on structural policy and preventing an old debt solution for financially weak municipalities just doesn’t fit.” The old debt relief for cities was actually a big problem, but not for Seehofer and the Union, who thought more of rural areas when it came to domestic politics. It was a concern of the SPD, which was joined by the Greens and the left. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) had promised € 22 billion from the federal budget.
A large part of the money would have been directed to North Rhine-Westphalia, especially to the Ruhr area, a Social Democratic homeland to this day. That is one of the reasons why Seehofer’s homeland weakened. The old debt relief did not materialize. In the summer, they agreed to help with social benefits and the business tax. That is not enough for the Greens. “Municipalities affected by the crown now need a structural reform of their finances and a review of the existing financing policy,” says Schmidt.
