SPD Leader Bas Warns Welfare State Is Being Put at Risk

The SPD wants to establish itself as a defender of the welfare state with its new basic program. - AFP

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) aims to present itself as a defender of the welfare state with its new core programme. The welfare state in Germany is currently “facing a test of endurance; its very existence is being called into question,” SPD chair Bärbel Bas said on Saturday in a keynote speech marking the start of work on the new party platform. “Especially in times when people feel unsettled, especially in times when major changes are taking place, people need a safety net,” she said.

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At the beginning of a closed-door meeting at the party headquarters in Berlin, Bas said the SPD wants to set out a concept for a modern welfare state in its new core programme, which is scheduled for adoption next year. The welfare state, she said, is often “defamed in the current debate as a brake on economic growth, even though the opposite is true.” She added that “especially now, as artificial intelligence and digitalisation trigger profound changes, we need a modern welfare state.”

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Bas criticised recent proposals that have also come from within the ranks of coalition partner Christian Democratic Union, including restricting part-time work or introducing private provision for long-term care. “All of this is a wrecking ball for workers’ rights,” the SPD leader said. She described them as proposals “without respect for the problems of completely ordinary people in this country.”

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The SPD must push back, Bas argued. “With this SPD, we are renewing the promise of the future for this country.” The message, she said, is: “You may trust that this society is here for you.”

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The current SPD core programme dates back to 2007. The new one is to be completed by 2027. The party is attempting to balance its traditional themes, work, education and justice, with the major challenges of a new era: artificial intelligence, a changing world order and a democracy under strain. During the meeting in Berlin, which runs until Sunday, the SPD plans to debate and adopt papers on three areas: the economy, foreign policy and the welfare state.

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