Germany’s opposition conservative bloc has adopted its joint programme for the European elections on June 9.
The leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), unanimously adopted the paper at a meeting in Berlin on Monday, participants told dpa.
The conservative bloc is sending a “clear message” for freedom, security, prosperity and competitiveness with its election programme, CDU leader Friedrich Merz said after the meeting.
He added that a “strong economy and competitive industry” are needed in Europe to “make a major contribution to climate change, to solving this major problem facing humanity.”
In addition to Merz, the meeting at the CDU headquarters was attended by CSU leader Markus Söder as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, also a member of the CDU, and the chairman of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber.
CSU leader Söder, who is also Bavaria’s state premier, said the bloc is fighting to prevent a shift to the left in the European elections.
“We want a civic-conservative Europe,” he said.
The programme refrains from “soft-edged formulaic compromises, but instead has many contours and clear edges,” the CSU leader added.
He named the CDU/CSU’s commitment to the future of the combustion engine and nuclear power, the reduction of bureaucracy, the strengthening of small- and medium-sized enterprises and a more restrictive migration policy as important issues.
In the European election campaign, the CDU and CSU are focussing on massively rearming the European Union, including aircraft carriers and its own missile shield. The parties are also calling for a separate European commissioner for defence.
According to the election programme, the security situation in Europe has changed fundamentally in recent years, particularly as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine. Much more needs to be done for Europe’s security and defence, the parties write.
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