The traffic light coalition - coalition agreeemnet - "Daring more progress"
ALLIANCE FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY
► Coalition agreement 2021 - 2025 (in German)
The Coalition Agreement “ALLIANCE FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY – Daring more progress” between the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens* and the Free Democrats (FDP) was presented on 24.11.2021 and at the same time the sharing of ministries was announced. The coalition agreement and the personnel decisions have still to be approved by the party committees. In the case of The Greens, this has been taking place since Friday, 26.11.2021 via an online member voting. Approximately 125 000 members can vote on the agreement and the ministers. A simple majority is required for adoption, but there is no quorum. In the case of the SPD it will started on 04.12.2021 and in the case of the FDP on 05.12.2021, in each case at a party conference. The parties FDP and the Greens have already nominated the ministers leading "their" ministries; for the SPD this is to take place at the party conference.
* in the following: the Greens
A coalition agreement is not a law, but a guideline for the work of a government and usually contains declarations of intent, only. The coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and FDP remains rather vague in many areas. This vagueness is understandable in view of three negotiating partners with often very different and contrary ideas and perceptions. Any sharpening would certainly have led to a breakdown of the coalition negotiations. This leaves room for interpretation! One of the decisive factors will be which personalities will lead the ministries and how they will align the ministries and how much progress they actually want to (or can) dare progress.
However, conflicts / points of friction are pre-programmed with these "vaguenesses",. In addition, there could be blockades due to the right of objection of the three parties:
► SPD: Chancellor - competence to issue directives,
► The Greens: Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection - review of all projects for climate neutrality,
► FDP: Ministry of Finance - financial feasibility and budgetary reservations.
The ministries "Economy and Climate Protection", "Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection" and "Food and Agriculture" will be leaded by personalities from the Greens, namely R. Harbeck, S. Lemke and C. Özedmir.
The "Ministry of Education and Research" will be occupied by the FDP politician S. Stark-Watzinger.
It is the first time that the areas of agriculture, nutrition, modern plant breeding, products in regulated in the comitology procedure, environment and consumer protection are leaded by the same party, now in "green" hands. The earlier conflicts between the CDU-led Ministry of Agriculture and the SPD-led Ministry of the Environment on genetic engineering, new genomic techniques and decisions on votes in comitology procedures do no longer exist. The line of conflict will probably soon be with the FDP-led Ministry of Science.
The alignment of the ministries will certainly have an influence on Germany's voting behaviour in comitology procedures.
The Coalition Agreement - "Daring More Progress"
► ALLIANCE FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Coalition agreement between the SPD, Alliance 90/The Green and the FDP
The coalition agreement comprises 277 pages and is divided into 9 main sections
● Preamble
● Modern state, digital awakening and innovations
● Climate protection in a social-ecological market economy
● Respect, opportunities and social security in the modern world of work
● Opportunities for children, strong families and the best education throughout life
● Freedom and security, equality and diversity in modern democracy
● Germany's responsibility for Europe and the world
● Investment in the future and sustainable finances
● Working procedures of the government and parliamentary groups
Analysis and Comments
Similar to the party programmes, here the coalition agreement is analysed only in terms of science/research, biotechnology (bioengineering, genetic engineering), agriculture and food.
Party programmes (in German)
Terms:
Biotechnology
The term "biotechnology" appears twice in the agreement, on page 21, only:
"Germany has the chance to become the leading international biotechnology location. Through the first mRNA vaccine from Mainz, our country has gained worldwide visibility. This is associated with a leading function for the scientific and economic development of biotechnology."
In the first sentence, the term clearly refers to biotechnical applications in medicine and pharmaceuticals, but the second sentence can certainly be interpreted in terms of opening up to all areas, probably without political restritions.
Genetic engineering
Terms such as "genetic engineering", "gene technology", "new genomic techniques" and "new breeding methods" do not appear in the coalition agreement. Terms that could be associated with genetic engineering (old or new) are consistently avoided. That is fine as these terms are referred to in a coded way and can be interpreted. Applications from these techniques are not explicitly excluded. In connection with modern biotechnology, food and food production play no role in the coalition agreement or is not mentioned.
Agriculture and Nutrition
Agriculture and nutrition are often used together. The importance of food for nutrition is only vaguely addressed and when vegan products and meat substitutes have a special significance for nutrition and climate protection.
"Central future fields include: ..... a sustainable agricultural and food system." (page 20)
"We think of economic development and ecological responsibility together. It is important to preserve what sustains us and to protect our resources. The protection of the environment and nature is therefore an essential part of our political action, and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the guiding principles of our policy. In particular, the fight against species extinction requires a high level of attention and political action. Our goal is a sustainable, future-oriented agriculture in which farmers can operate in an economically viable manner and which does justice to the environment, animals and the climate. We strengthen regional value chains and contribute to the preservation of rural structures." (pages 24/25)
"We will orient all agriculture in its diversity towards the goals of environmental protection and resource conservation (organic farming)protection of resources (organic farming). We want to develop an agriculture in harmony with nature and the environment. We want to achieve 30 percent organic farming by the year 2030. To this end, we want to increase federal funding for the Federal Organic Farming Programme and agricultural research funds for research on organic farming in line with the expansion of targets in organic farming. We are expanding the strategy for the future of organic farming to include the entire organic value chain." (page 46)
"Sustainable agriculture serves the interests of farmers, animal welfare and nature, and is the basis of a healthy diet." (page 43)
"All sectors will have to make a contribution: Transport, construction and housing, power generation, industry and agriculture. We will monitor compliance with the climate targets* on the basis of a cross-sectoral and, in analogy to the Paris Climate Agreement, multi-annual overall account multi-annual accounting. The basis for this is the annual monitoring." (page 55)
* Here, the EU action programme "Fit for 55" is largely adopted,
Breeding
"We want to support the breeding of climate-resistant plant varieties. To this end we are improving the framework conditions for population varieties and promote model projects such as crowd-breeding, digitalisation, create transparency about breeding methods and strengthen risk and detection research." (page 47)
As already mentioned genetic engineering, the topic of new genomic techniques was completely excluded. But in the above statement, the three parties can find each other. It leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
In the field of agriculture and food, the motto "Daring more progress" is primarily understood to mean sustainability, organic forming, greening, and climate protection.
Innovations
"With a modern funding policy, we are ensuring a successful start into an innovation decade. More innovations strengthen Germany as a business location as well as the development of society as a whole." (page 20)
"To this end, we will establish the German Agency for Transfer and Innovation (DATI) to promote social and technological innovations, especially at HAW and small and medium-sized universities, in cooperation with start-ups, SMEs and social and public organisations, among others."
(page 20)
"Federal innovation funding should be consistently opened up for social and ecological innovations." (page 31)
"We will create a Reallab and Freedom Zones Act that provides uniform and innovation-friendly framework conditions for reallabs and enables new freedom to test innovations." (page 31)
"We also want to support the development steps from innovation to market entry within the framework of existing funding structures."
(page 31)
"We strengthen plant-based alternatives and advocate for the approval of innovations such as alternative protein sources and meat substitutes in the EU." (page 45)
The term "innovation" appears 19 times and understandably most frequently under the section "Start-up, foundation and innovation support". No innovations are directly seen in the area of agriculture, but nowhere is it also specified what the traffic light coalition understands by "innovation". Thus, nothing is ruled out in this area either.
Science and Research
"We have an appetite for new things and will promote technological, digital, social and sustainable innovation. Through better framework conditions for higher education, science and research, we want to make the science location more creative and competitive. Freedom of science and research is the key to creative ideas that help to overcome the great challenges of our time. "(page 8)
"Germany is a country of innovation. Strong science and research are the guarantors of prosperity, quality of life, social cohesion and a sustainable society." (page 19)
"We are giving new inputs to our science and research landscape. We will strengthen our universities and universities of applied sciences (HAW) as the heart of the science system, promote and accelerate innovation and transfer from basic research to application." (page 19)
"We want to increase the share of general government expenditure on research and development to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2025." (page 19)
"We need a strong science and research policy to solve the major challenges facing society." (page 19)
"We advocate a more science-friendly copyright law. We want to further develop the national research data infrastructure and promote a European Research Data Space." (page 21)
"Universities and universities of applied sciences are the backbone of the German science landscape. As such, we will strengthen them, because where progress is made, it must also be lived. We will continue the cooperation between the Federal Government and the Länder for a sustainable science system. We will counteract the decoupling of budget development between universities and non-university research institutions." (page 22)
"Free, curiosity-driven basic research is the foundation of state research funding." (page 22)
"The Academies of Sciences and Humanities will be funded in the same way as the Pact for Research and Innovation." (page 22)
"Good science needs reliable working conditions. That is why we want to reform the Act on Temporary Scientific Contracts on the basis of the evaluation." (page 23)
"We defend academic freedom at home and abroad, strengthen protection programmes and will further develop the internationalisation strategy in dialogue." (page 23)
In view of these declarations of intent, a "golden" period should dawn for science and research. Problem areas that have not been addressed so far are now to be tackled and solved in a progressive way. In connection with the remarks on innovation, there is actually no need to worry about the science and business location. Freedom of research and research funding are to be guaranteed in all areas, and it should be easier, quicker and less bureaucratic to translate research results into economically useful innovations, especially if they serve sustainability, climate protection and greening.
But as always, the coalition will be judged on the implementation of its declarations of intent and should always be reminded of them. The willingness for dialogue should be actively used throughout the government period.
Here only one selected press release:
Michel-Berger S.: Cem Özdemir als Bundeslandwirtschaftsminister ist eine Chance
Die Grünen haben bekanntgegeben, dass Cem Özdemir in einer Ampel-Koalition das Bundeslandwirtschaftsministerium führen soll. Das ist, im Lichte des Koalitionsvertrags, eine Chance für die Landwirtschaft. Aber nur wenn alle Seiten, inklusive der Opposition, ihren Teil dafür tun.
English translation:
Michel-Berger S.: Cem Özdemir as Federal Minister of Agriculture is a chance
The Greens have announced that Cem Özdemir is to lead the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in a traffic light coalition. In the light of the coalition agreement, this is an opportunity for agriculture. But only if all sides, including the opposition, do their part.
01.12.2021