FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, presented an agenda for tax breaks and investment support on Sunday in a bid to preserve manufacturing jobs and appeal to voters in the September 2025 general election .
“Investors in Germany will receive tax benefits,” said the strategy document, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
The document laid out proposals to change course against a damaging recession as Germany struggles with rising unemployment, high energy costs and competition from China and the United States in export markets.
The presidium of the left-wing party that forged a three-way coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats in 2021 approved the proposals on Saturday, which also provide for giving income tax benefits to 95% of taxpayers.
It also says that the minimum wage should be gradually increased from 12.41 euros to 15 euros. There were no financial details on how these plans would be funded.
The Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag (BamS) was the first to report on the plans.
All parties are preparing for elections scheduled for September 2025, although the vote could take place earlier if the coalition falls apart over a series of issues in the coming months.
The SPD plans include purchase bonuses for locally produced electric vehicles, which have seen sluggish sales and face stiff competition from cheaper Chinese-made imports.
The party reiterated calls for a review of the debt brake to reverse decades of underinvestment in crucial infrastructure and is proposing to help manufacturers save on electricity grid tariffs as part of a package of more competitive energy prices across the industry.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Green Party supports the change in network rates.
The SPD board will approve the strategy during a meeting on Sunday afternoon.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Vera Eckert; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
