Amid the poor economic situation, Chancellery Minister Thorsten Frei (CDU) has considered revising the coalition agreement. He criticizes the rigid stance of the traffic-light government toward new challenges like Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Frei advocates for more flexible action in the Union-SPD coalition.
Thorsten Frei, CDU Chancellery Minister, addressed Germany's difficult economic situation in an interview with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). He sees a need to adapt the coalition agreement as framework conditions have changed. "Some framework conditions have already been put in place by the federal government of the Union and SPD," Frei said. However, he emphasized: "In general, from my point of view: A coalition must have the strength to face new challenges that could not have been foreseen at the beginning."
Frei compared this to the traffic-light coalition under Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). It had "stoically stuck" to the original agreement despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "We should learn from this and act more flexibly," he demanded. In the current economic crisis, this could mean "counter-steering more strongly."
The backdrop is the ongoing recession: BDI President Peter Leibinger warned before Christmas of the economy's "free fall." He described the situation as the "most severe crisis in the history of the Federal Republic." These statements highlight the urgency of responding to unforeseen developments like geopolitical conflicts and economic turbulence without clinging to old agreements.
