Saxon Minister-President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) has criticized the focus of the planned reform package, calling for the federal government to adopt a different approach. Speaking to the news portal T-Online, Kretschmer stated that the current emphasis is primarily on budget consolidation, arguing that what is truly needed is a new competitive agenda.
He argued that the reforms face not only implementation issues but also a fundamental problem of insight, a stance he also observed among certain parts of the SPD and the trade unions. As an example of this failing, he highlighted the investment booster implemented last year-the improved tax write-offs for companies-which, in his view, is becoming pointless because the location itself is no longer competitive.
Kretschmer urged the federal government to better explain to citizens why reforms are necessary. “People are only ready for change when they clearly feel that something will improve because of it,” he said. “The federal government is currently failing to paint the big picture. They must answer the question: What are we reforming for in the first place?”
He lamented that the discussion so far has been fragmented, focusing publicly mainly on savings or budget cuts to somehow balance the books. He misses the overarching goal: “We are doing this so that Germany remains a strong, solidary country that succeeds through the quality of its ideas and products.”
Furthermore, Kretschmer advocated for incorporating the perspective of Eastern Germany and the knowledge from local municipalities and various regions more deeply into the reform debate. He stressed that the federal government should be utilizing a wealth of expert knowledge that it has so far overlooked. He specifically criticized the current coalition (Ampel) for failing to do this, warning that this mistake should not be repeated by the ruling government.
