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Programme of the CDU - 2021-2026

In the midst of our society

In the midst of our society - Programme of the CDU Elbe- Weser 2021-2026

Dear readers,

For thirty years, the CDU has renewed the "Elbe-Weser Programme" every five years. During this time, the members of the CDU have always held political responsibility in Europe, at the federal, state and local levels. The Elbe-Weser triangle has developed into an economically prosperous region. Together we will therefore also overcome the challenges of the coming years. The combination of tradition and modernity will help us to do so. The CDU sees itself at the centre of society in our rural home. We first ask about people's concerns and then give our answers. With this programme, we emphasize which values and goals we stand for and how we differ from left wing and right wing competitors. With this programme, we would like to offer you a clear and reliable perspective for the coming years.

In particular, dealing with the consequences of the Corona pandemic will be an enormous challenge for us in the years to come. Our sympathy goes out to the victims of the pandemic and their families. In the future, we will also pay special attention to those who have experienced economic and social difficulties as a result of the pandemic itself or by the restrictive measures taken to combat the pandemic. That is why we think it is wrong to make expensive promises. It is more important for us to use the narrow financial leeway to open up fair prospects for the economically disadvantaged. By way of example, we are thinking of small and medium-sized retail and catering businesses, but also of workers who have lost their jobs and of industries whose jobs are at risk.

The CDU Elbe-Weser views itself as the Elbe-Weser Party and will continue to stand up powerfully and reliably for the interests and people of our region in the years to come. We wish you an enjoyable and informative reading!

Enak Ferlemann, District Chairman Axel Lohse, Programme Commission I. Assessment and outlook for five years

What is expected from us! The CDU Elbe-Weser - in the midst of our society!

The Christian Democratic Union Elbe-Weser is the people's party of the centre with the objective of representing the interests of the people of our predominantly rural region. We see "centre" not only as our location in the political spectrum, but also as our location in society.

The people in our home country expect politics to be reliable, sustainable, value- oriented, geared to the common good and pursuing long-term goals. We see this expectation as the guiding principle of our political action.

The great majority of the working population expects secure jobs, an income that is sufficient for subsistence, securing the future and certain amenities of life. This is not only about fair wages and salaries, but also about fair and adequate taxes and social contributions. A small gap between the incomes of working people and those of people receiving social benefits is being perceived as unfair.

Entrepreneurs, self-employed and farmers want to be able to decide freely on their economic and entrepreneurial goals and expect the government and society to provide reliable framework conditions, affordable taxes and levies, a limitation of state intervention to the maximum extent necessary and social appreciation of their activities. Taxpayers are willing to act in solidarity if they can be sure that the state will handle their money carefully and pay attention to sustainable public finances and manageable administrative costs. As road users, we want to see an infrastructure consisting of safe and fast transport routes and connections.

Parents want the independent upbringing of their children and their education to remain feasible and affordable and not to lead to disadvantages in their professional lives. The young generation is concerned about future opportunities in education and work in a sustainable environment that is worth living in. The elder generation wants to leave precisely this liveable environment to future generations and also wants secure pensions that fairly reflect their own life achievements.

Christians and other religious people are concerned with the preservation of creation as well as society's respect for traditions, customs and traditions that have shaped our culture over centuries.

Individual money savers expect that the currency will remain inflation-proof and that a fair return will not be avoided or taxed away by the state or the central bank.

Public servants see themselves as service providers for their fellow citizens and would like to see less regulation. Moreover, members of the educational professions and the security forces expect more respect from society for their difficult tasks.

People with disabilities and sick people expect the solidarity of society to be able to live a life without existential fear. Safe and affordable health care for all is seen as an important prerequisite for a dignified life.

What characterises us? What makes us different?

In an increasingly colourful political and social spectrum, we want to position ourselves clearly as a people's party and make it clear what distinguishes us from our right-wing and left-wing competitors:

1. We stand for the open and liberal society that was developed in the Federal Republic of after the Second World War. We stand firmly and unreservedly on the foundation of the Basic Law and representative democracy. We stand by our historical responsibility from two dictatorships on German soil. We reject all totalitarian state views and systems. For us, respect for human rights and freedoms is an important prerequisite for good international relations. We strictly reject violence as a means to achieve political goals or for whatever reason. In our view, there must be a balance between citizens and the state. We see the state as a means to an end. It may only intervene in the rights of the individual if the rights of others are otherwise violated or if higher interests require it. In this case, the elected or appointed representatives of the state must be accountable for their actions. We also expect unrestricted acceptance of the free legal and social order from the people who have immigrated to our country.

2. In our view, Germany is part of the Western community and shares Western values. This also includes the transatlantic community and membership in NATO as the unchanged foundation of our external security. We stand by our alliance commitments and see a modern and well equipped as a parliamentary army, aligned with the principles of our basic democratic order, as an essential German contribution to securing peace.

3. For us, a united Europe is more than an economic and monetary union. The experience of two world wars, but also more than a thousand years of common history, have taught us that only European integration will lead to a lasting peaceful future. As German Europeans, we stand for our German interests when there are different interests in the - just as every other European state does. The integration of Europe requires a fair distribution of burdens. We are ready for this and expect the same willingness from all European partners. We see the protection of the external borders and the orderly management of immigration as a common European task. We would like to see the EU's bureaucracy and administration structured clearly and transparently in order to increase the acceptance of the EU by its citizens.

4. The social market economy is the most successful economic order of all time and has led to great prosperity in our country. The combination of free entrepreneurial activity of the individual under fair market conditions and with the consideration of social responsibility follows our fundamental Christian conviction. As an export nation, we stand for free trade in the world. Protectionism endangers our prosperity.

5. As Christian Democrats, we see the preservation and development of the creation as a major task for the future of politics. We stand for a balance between ecological necessities and economic goals. 6. Our Christian view of humanity means that we always see the other person as our neighbour first. We reject discrimination against other people for whatever reason, not least because of our historical responsibility.

7. Since its foundation, our party has stood for subsidiarity. At present, we see increasing political tendencies to overemphasise the interests of metropolitan structures. We stand for the fact that in rural areas independent decisions about their own development remain possible and are oriented towards the goals and values of the people in the affected areas. We stand for the coexistence of urban and rural areas, characterised by equality and mutual respect.

Where we live!

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany in the region between the Elbe, Weser and sees itself as a people's party which - based on a fundamental Christian understanding - unites christian-social, liberal and conservative perspectives, but at the same time pays particular attention to the specific cultural conditions and traditions of our home region and develops these further within the framework of a modern structural policy.

The connection of the grown identity of our region with the demands of a globalised world is the concern of our politics. That is why our party, as the Elbe-Weser Party, wants to represent the interests of our citizens with one voice. With this orientation, we have achieved many successes in the last quarter of a century.

While the area between the Elbe and the Weser was one of the structurally weaker regions in Lower and Germany in the decades after the war, it has experienced a dynamic upward trend in terms of economic development over the last three decades. We have repeatedly pushed this development by representing our concerns in Brussels, and with vigour and a sense of proportion. In doing so, we have clearly set ourselves apart from political competitors who wanted to keep our region's infrastructure at the level of the 1970s and have opposed every further industrial and commercial settlement and every necessary infrastructure measure. For us, one thing was and is certain: to create productive and sustainable jobs is the essential prerequisite for the development of wealth and prosperity. We are committed to an active infrastructure policy as a precondition for any positive economic development.

Now, our concern is to secure and further develop what we have achieved - despite a difficult political environment and major global and national challenges, especially with regard to the consequences of the pandemic. The claim by individual competitors that preserving the status quo is sufficient to secure prosperity fails to recognise that there will be no standstill in a globalised and increasingly digitalised world. Further active engagement is therefore needed in order not to fall behind the development of the metropolitan areas and other prospering regions.

Together with the representatives and elected officials of our party in the , at the federal and state level and in the European Parliament, we will do everything we can to ensure that the Elbe-Weser region retains its importance and continues to move forward.

Where we want to go! Understanding between town and country! Our outlook for 2026 - more Elbe-Weser in after the local elections

In the coming years, the success of our region will depend even more than before on coherent cooperation between all levels - from the municipalities to the state and from the federal government to Europe. The complexity of the problems, easily recognisable in the global crises of 2008/09 (financial and economic crisis), 2015/16 (refugee crisis) and 2020/21 (Corona pandemic), demands close coordination and a strong German presence at international level. The CDU-led Federal Government under Chancellor Angela Merkel has been very assertive and reached a consensus for even unpopular decisions and assumed Germany's responsibility in Europe and the world. The economic development of our country shows that Germany - until the beginning of the pandemic - continued to be on a good path through healthy economic growth, orderly finances and a stable labour market. It has proven to be right - against all odds in Germany and Europe - that a financial policy geared towards avoiding new debt has created room for manoeuvre in order to be able to cope with these crises financially. Against the background of these new challenges, it is of great importance to use the elections to the parliaments to clearly determine where we stand. The local representatives in the districts, cities and municipalities deserve and need responsible and willing elected representatives who face the structural challenges for rural areas and counter the effects of global crises, which are being felt here more than ever. The CDU candidates in the Elbe-Weser region stand for this goal to make reasonable decisions on the local level.

II. Modern infrastructure - the basis for a successful economic policy

Our focus has always been a regulatory concept that connects our region with its peripheral location with the major central and northern European economic centres. Only a modern infrastructure can generate economic growth, increase the competitiveness of our region and make better use of its natural resources. Given the right policies, this region has excellent global and regional connections to Scandinavia, the Benelux countries, the British Isles, Eastern Europe and overseas. The Elbe and Weser transport routes offer ideal shipping opportunities to the heart of Germany - especially to the new federal states, the industrial centres on the Mittelland and the Rhine.

Globalisation has led to a drastic increase in the international flow of goods and will continue to do so. Container shipping in particular has increased significantly. This trend will continue. The connection of the hinterland to the ports remains the central task of infrastructure policy. It is important to take advantage of the associated opportunities - economic development and jobs in the region - and to develop the infrastructure in such a way that road, rail and sea transport do not collapse, but rather - coordinated with each other - are developed rapidly.

To further strengthen our infrastructure, we now consider it necessary to rapidly implement and develop the following additional projects:

1) Road traffic • Planning and construction of the A 20 coastal motorway from Westerstede via the already completed Weser tunnel near Dedesdorf and Bremervörde to the planned Elbe crossing near , where it connects to the A 26 motorway. • Rapid progress and completion of the construction of the A 26 motorway from via to Drochtersen and short-term completion of the sections from to and on to Hamburg; further planning and construction from the A 7 to the A 1 near Stillhorn. • As part of the A 20, construction of the tunnel to cross the Elbe at Drochtersen • Earlier construction of the Bremervörde section brought forward so that the construction works can start as soon as possible • Further construction of the A 281 including another Weser tunnel to connect Airport and Bremen's industrial areas • Construction of various bypasses in the course of the federal roads 71, 73, 74 and 3 (in particular , , and Ketzendorf) • New construction or rehabilitation of numerous road bridges

2) Rail transport • Exploit the possibilities of cooperation between AG and non- federally owned railway companies with the aim of increasing the attractiveness of local rail passenger transport and achieving efficient freight transport infrastructure • Expansion of the -Bremen-Hanover rail link and extension/new construction of additional tracks on the Hanover rail line between and as well as double-track expansion of the Uelzen-Stendal line to better relieve the port hinterland • Expansion of the Hamburg, Hamburg-Harburg and Bremen railway hubs • Double-track extension of the - railway line, including the Rotenburg curve of the EVB • Expansion of capacities on the Bremen-Wunstorf line • Double-track extension of the - railway line • Following a transparent planning procedure, construction of the so-called Alpha E Variant Plus in the medium term to relieve and improve the port hinterland connections with the expansion of the Bremen- . • Connection of the Stade-Bützfleth seaport to a new industrial track • Electrification of the railway lines Stade-, Bremerhaven-Cuxhaven as well as the EVB line Bremerhaven-Rotenburg as an essential competitive factor for our ports and the industry located there. • Reactivation of dead railway lines where it makes economic and transport policy sense. • Reactivation of the Moorexpress from Stade via Bremervörde and to Bremen and introduction of a regular timetable • Further improvement of local public transport between the centres of the two metropolitan regions Hamburg and Northwest (formerly metropolitan region Bremen/) and the respective surrounding area

3) Ports and shipping • Expansion of port handling capacities in Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven and Stade and examination of further expansion possibilities for the ports as offshore base ports, multifunctional ports and multi-purpose handling ports. The new location of the Siemens Gamesa Group in Cuxhaven is proof of a successful structural policy. • In principle, we support the deepening of the Outer Weser for economic reasons. However, we will only consider it if the indispensable requirements of dyke safety and ecology are taken into account and if an agreement is reached between the federal and state governments on the concerns of water management and national culture. • We strictly reject the further deepening of the Lower Elbe. • Expansion of the Kiel Canal • Expansion of the Middle Weser for large motor cargo ships and two-lane traffic • Expansion of the Stade-Bützfleth seaport and construction of a terminal for liquid energy sources. In doing so, we are creating the basis for sustainable energy partnerships to achieve climate goals. The liquefied gas infrastructure of tomorrow is the terminal infrastructure for regenerative gases of the day after tomorrow. By importing renewable energy sources, we secure cheap resources for the future and at the same time make our contribution to stabilisation in the world. The new RED II, which provides for the gradual substitution of renewable energy sources, means that the planned Stade terminal offers a win-win situation for all parties involved, in addition to a rapid CO2 reduction. We are therefore in favour of the north harbour expansion with direct rail and motorway access to the terminal. • Comprehensive bus routes that are adapted to the rail timetable as a feeder and guarantee for increasing passenger numbers

4) Air traffic • Expansion of regional airfields, to the extent that makes economically sense and does not impair the overall concept for northern German air traffic • Creation of planning security for existing airfields. The designation of residential areas in the vicinity of the airfields should be avoided in order to prevent conflicts. Regional transport policy should be bundled in an overall concept and enable connections to the major centres. In this context, cooperation with the city states of Hamburg and Bremen is of particular importance.

III. An innovative economy creates and secures jobs!

Good and future-oriented connections to supra-regional transport networks are indispensable to compensate for existing locational disadvantages in rural areas. Those who want to keep the Elbe-Weser region attractive as a liveable home must promote the regional economy. After all, it is the local economy, which is strongly characterised by small and medium-sized enterprises, that successfully create and secure jobs and training places in the region!

In the Elbe-Weser region, too, seven development strands are primarily foreseeable with regard to the development perspectives of the locations:

1. Depending on geographical, geological, historical, demographic, traffic and industry-specific influences, there is enormous growth potential and opportunities for interesting new companies to settle here in many places. With our policy, we want to actively contribute to further strengthening this potential (e.g. with the CFK-Valley in Stade, the further expansion of renewable energies, the creation of further logistics capacities, with the animal breeding and marketing centres in Verden and Bremervörde, the biotechnology Cuxhaven as well as the further expansion of in the district of Cuxhaven). The geographical location of the Elbe-Weser region with its proximity to the coast, but especially to the ports that are important for , has made our region particularly attractive for the offshore wind energy industry. Lower Saxony in general and the Elbe-Weser region in particular are "energy land", not only for conventional but equally for renewable energy production. However, the establishment of the Siemens Gamesa plant in Cuxhaven must be just one of many further steps on the way to establishing this industry in our region.

2. In addition, for many municipalities, especially for locations without a direct connection to supra-regional transport axes, economic prosperity must be predominantly supported by the development of existing medium-sized structures. With our policy, we want to actively contribute to maintaining the diversity of small and medium-sized businesses and thus the diversity of jobs in the region.

3. A shortage of skilled workers is a reality in many places. Although positive framework conditions can be created for companies, only motivated and highly qualified workers fill it with life and ultimately lead it to the desired economic success. Training and retaining workers in the Elbe-Weser region is therefore an important challenge for the economic development of the region. Much more than in the past, questions will also be asked about the compatibility of family and career. Employees of a company must be able to combine life and work without neglecting children and family unduly.

4. With good internet connections, locations in rural areas can also generate additional settlement potential in future in location-flexible sectors.

5. The focus here is not only on innovations in the high-tech sector, but also on low-threshold innovations with direct application relevance. Of particular importance here are those innovation potentials that are not occupied by individual actors, but rather are found in a critical mass of companies and research institutions. Only in this case network structures can develop along a value chain whose perception extends far beyond the region. This is ideally the case in the field of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) in the example of the "CFRP Valley" in Stade: starting from the research activities of the aircraft manufacturing industry in Stade, a technology centre, a service centre, a training centre, a university of applied sciences and a research centre have gradually settled around the material CFRP. After an initial focus on aircraft construction, the application focus has now expanded to include the whole range of the mobility industry (cars, lorries, shipping, etc.) and also, for example, the promising field of wind energy.

6. Within the framework of a balanced energy mix, we are committed to emphatically supporting technology development in renewable energy generation in particular, such as wind energy or the improvement and new ways of storage technology. In doing so, we are aware that an expansion of renewable energy production is very costly and space-consuming. Since renewable forms of energy do not produce energy everywhere, where they are consumed, we need an extensive redistribution network to be able to supply our country. It must be explained to the citizens in the Elbe-Weser region in a comprehensible way that considerable sums of investment will have to be made available for this and that rural areas will change.

The topic area of "energy" also includes the promotion and development of modern forms of propulsion. This applies both to the large-scale transport of goods and to individual transport.

Subsidies under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) should be co- financed by other sectors. Finally, electricity must remain affordable for all users.

In addition to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions in transport, the electric vehicle with battery storage also offers great potential for energy savings due to its high efficiency. The expansion of the charging infrastructure must keep pace with the rapidly increasing number of registrations. The following applies: parking time is charging time. In addition to the further expansion of charging stations in multi-storey car parks, but also in front of shopping centres or in company car parks, there is a particular need for fast charging stations with 150 kW and more of charging power along our national roads.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are the long-distance runners among electric vehicles. They score with short refuelling times and a longer range. We encourage larger companies and car rental companies to conduct field tests with hydrogen vehicles in their fleets. This is because their vehicle fleets usually have a high proportion of long-distance journeys.

New challenges also arise for the operation of ships that may no longer be operated with conventional heavy fuel oil in the so-called SECA zone in the North Sea and . Ships sailing in these waters are therefore now operated with LNG engines, among other things. Thus, import terminals are urgently needed as landing structures for LNG and LPG as affordable low-CO2 energy sources. For the landing and distribution of renewable fuels, ports can simultaneously be used as hubs and distribution networks that are partly already in place today. The LNG liquid gas infrastructure of tomorrow is the e- fuel infrastructure of the day after tomorrow. From marine diesel to LNG and methanol to green fuels, our ports must be expanded step by step with regard to future CO2-neutral propulsion technologies. That is why we see LNG infrastructure as an investment for the future. Converting ports so that they can refuel ships with LNG propulsion offers a great opportunity to make them even more attractive as ports of call.

7. The Elbe-Weser region is becoming a pioneer in the increased use of hydrogen from renewable energies. As one of the successful regions in the competition "Hy-Land - Hydrogen Regions in Germany" of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, the great potential for a hydrogen economy is honoured. The Elbe-Weser region offers great potential for the production of "green" hydrogen due to its location, its special geological features, here especially the caverns for the storage of hydrogen and green energy sources, its already established industrial companies, the possibility of storing gases in caverns and its numerous wind power plants. In addition to favourable import opportunities for low-CO2 resources, the LNG terminal offers a future cluster for the settlement of new companies in the Elbe-Weser region. In Bremervörde, Osterholz-Scharmbeck and Stade, promising hydrogen industry projects have already been launched (such as the production, storage, infrastructure, transport, distribution and use of hydrogen). We are doing our utmost to seize the opportunities for a rapid diffusion of hydrogen for all areas of life, especially for all forms of mobility, industry and heating of buildings. It is no coincidence that the world's first hydrogen-powered train is being used here in the Elbe- Weser region and that the first road sweepers and refuse collection vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells are rolling off the production line in Osterholz. We want to push this development further.

Active economic and structural policy requires reliable framework conditions everywhere. We therefore advocate that

• approval procedures for business location projects and start-ups are fast and unbureaucratic, - attractive and demand-oriented areas for business locations continue to be made available in all districts of the Elbe-Weser region.

• public administrations function efficiently and close to the citizens and do not hinder investment projects but promote them,

• supply and disposal structures are aligned in such a way that the fee requirement can be kept as low as possible,

• an active economic development policy is pursued. This requires that the region as a whole be promoted beyond our area. The districts are called upon to further develop corresponding concepts.

• cross-border initiatives, e.g. the metropolitan regions of Hamburg and Northwest (formerly Bremen/Oldenburg), the Süderelbe growth initiative with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg or the Bremen-Niedersachsen association of municipalities, should be strengthened. It must be taken care to ensure that the give and take of the metropolis and surrounding municipalities is permanently in proportion and that the benefits sustainably exceed the costs of these initiatives.

• (Private-Public-Partnership=) PPP projects (such as the construction of the new prison in Bremervörde and various new school buildings in the past) can be realised as examples of long-term cooperation between the public and private sectors in suitable infrastructure and building construction projects,

• in municipalities with abandoned Bundeswehr sites, the federal and state governments should in future contribute to the special conversion burdens financially and in a structurally supportive manner,

• in order to consolidate public budgets, unnecessary prestige projects should be avoided and own contributions and follow-up costs should be taken into account more strongly than before when subsidies are called up,

• despite the great importance of secure funding for districts and municipalities, the tax burden on companies does not lead to a weakening of competitiveness,

• we need to further strengthen the universities in the Elbe-Weser region and promote the establishment of new fields of study, such as engineering professions,

• company kindergartens and childcare in the afternoon hours are promoted in such a way that parents' professional activities are not unduly restricted and care times in private and municipal kindergartens are made more flexible to enable care during different working hours.

IV. Digitisation - already the engine of a modern society today

Alongside globalisation and climate change, digitisation is the driving force for worldwide change. People's everyday lives, whether at work or in communication, have changed. Companies are dependent on innovations and the increasing digitalisation of their processes in order to compete. We embrace this change and want to use its opportunities to make life even better in our region as well.

While the expansion of the internet was long seen only as a factor for the regional economy or as an advantage in the designation of settlement areas for primarily young families, the digitisation of our lives is now one of the most important social challenges facing politics.

In our information society, a modern infrastructure policy in the Elbe-Weser region necessarily includes the nationwide provision of an IT infrastructure: fast internet and mobile communication should be available nationwide. Lower Saxony has set out to equip schools, universities, industrial sites and ports with fast and reliable fibre- optic internet by 2021. It is important that in the medium term the rest of the land is also provided with equal coverage in order to guarantee equivalent living and working conditions for all regions. In concrete terms, this means that not only the urban centres in the Elbe-Weser region or the surrounding areas of the metropolises of Hamburg and Bremen are connected to fibre-optic networks, but that our rural regions also have access to fast internet.

Together with the state and federal government, districts and municipalities are making considerable efforts to expand broadband and mobile networks. It is clear to us that only fibre-optic expansion with gigabit-capable addresses has a future. We therefore support the federal government's goal of finally abolishing the threshold for funding of addresses that are not self-sustaining and hope for a notification of new funding programmes by the European Commission.

We are explicity in favour of regional initiatives, for example by municipal utilities or other regional providers who invest in their own fibre-optic networks and offer communication services alongside their core business. We call for these regional initiatives to be able to receive funding from the federal and state governments to the same extent as the large telecommunications providers, in order to support local expansion. As a basis for this, municipalities and regional providers need reliable information about already existing empty pipes. It is no longer acceptable that this information cannot be combined because different software is used to collect it. We therefore call on municipalities and districts to create a joint empty pipe register.

In the field of mobile reception, we are developing the 5G application and are already preparing for the application of 6G. Unfortunately, there are still many white spots in rural areas - especially between villages - that do not even have 2G (voice telephony) or 4G (LTE, mobile internet). Here, we would like to further accelerate the development. In cooperation with the telecommunications companies, we will reliably survey and update the status of mobile phone coverage. We will support the companies' expansion efforts by actively searching for locations in the municipalities and accelerating the approval procedures in the district offices. Where the erection of radio masts is necessary but cannot be done economically, our party will use state and federal subsidy programmes to subsidise them. In particular, we are counting on the new federal mobile communications company and would like to support the Broadband Centre of Lower Saxony-Bremen, based in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, as the central service provider in Lower Saxony.

It remains the permanent task of the federal, state and local governments to negotiate concrete expansion plans with the major providers and to ensure the nationwide provision of 5G mobile networks in addition to fibre optics.

Consistent network expansion is the basis for all initiatives to digitise the Elbe-Weser region. However, it is not limited to this, but affects almost all areas of life.

The state of Lower Saxony has made the education sector in particular one of the central locations for digitisation projects. The Corona crisis in particular has made it clear how important it is to have sustainable concepts for e-learning and to equip pupils adequately with digital teaching aids. Therefore, we welcome the fact that more and more pupils are being equipped with tablets and digital forms of teaching are being applied. However, it is also important that the state fulfils its obligation and adapts the core curricula to these new circumstances. The development of IT skills and awareness of the opportunities and risks of digitisation must take place more quickly than before. However, it is also important that new media are competently looked after and maintained. We therefore call on the school authorities in the Elbe-Weser region to employ so-called digital pilots for their schools who will take care of the smooth operation of the media and devices and who will be available to pupils and teachers as contact persons.

Digitisation has a particular influence on the working world and the personal workplace. More and more companies are offering mobile work and even home office solutions for their employees. This means that rural areas in particular are moving closer to urban regions, where the majority of jobs are located. The compatibility of family and work has also become more important than ever in our region. We recognise this development and therefore call on the business community to examine further possibilities for mobile working.

Digitisation is also bringing markets closer together. The internet makes it possible for even the smallest town to participate in the global market. Often it is young entrepreneurs who like to set up businesses from their home communities and thus combine life in the Elbe-Weser region with professional activities in international economic areas. We support this development, but also recognise the need to adapt the framework conditions for municipal economic development in our region. We call on the municipalities to set up support programmes for start-ups which, on the one hand, include the obligation to establish companies in the locality and to leave them there for a while, but which, on the other hand, also provide young founders with venture capital to make it easier for them to start their own business in the region. In addition to municipal funding, we also welcome forms of joint alternative funding for innovative, creative and social project projects. The best example of this is the "Ideenbeweger" project of the PFH Göttingen - Stade Campus as a crowdfunding platform for new ideas and innovations in the Elbe-Weser region. At the same time, we advocate a renaissance of business incubators, as so-called shared spaces. Young companies should be given a home in these well-equipped units. In cooperation with the business development agencies and the chambers of commerce, a central advisory service can also be created here. A joint external appearance of the centres promotes the opportunity that larger companies will find innovative know-how more easily. The centres should not only be a roof over the heads of young entrepreneurs, but also generate advice, networking and market opportunities. In this way, traditional incubators become modern innovation hubs.

For the digitisation of our economy, it is important to strengthen the innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These are traditionally at a disadvantage compared to large companies, as they often do not have their own research and development departments. Our party relies here on strengthening technology transfer within the framework of ARTIE, the technology and innovation network in the Lüneburg region. Through the Transfer Centre Elbe-Weser (TZEW), commissioned by ARTIE and based in Stade, small and medium-sized enterprises are brought together with research institutions and universities so that solutions to technical problems can be found and know-how in the region can be expanded. The CDU wants to facilitate digitisation in companies with active business promotion by the districts, which bring federal and state funding programmes closer to the companies on site and support them in the application process.

Digitisation must also be consistently promoted in the public sector. We are therefore committed to • the further development of e-government offerings in municipalities and districts, • E-government as a way for citizens to interact with public authorities. Longer distances, restrictive working hours and complex procedures make visiting the respective authority quite a problem. The possibility of submitting applications online, participating in official processes via internet portals, for example, in the form of public development plans, but also generally speeding up procedures, offer advantages for public authorities and citizens alike, • the creation of a joint IT service network that creates supra-regional platforms and provides support for IT issues at municipalities, districts and authorities. Municipalities can use synergies among themselves on the basis of digital infrastructure and share expenses more than before. This would be possible, for example, through the creation of a joint IT association in which municipalities would be given the opportunity to offer and use services among themselves, • the expansion of fast internet connections with fibre optic cables as well as with wireless connections, especially to connect more rural regions with fast internet.

V. Mobility in the Elbe-Weser region - open to technology and digital!

Reliable accessibility throughout the country is and remains the overriding principle of our transport policy. Being mobile is an essential aspect of personal freedom - and especially so in our rural region.

The future of mobility also depends to a large extent on the development of the modes of transport. Against the background of climate change, there is a need for innovative development.

We see great opportunities in autonomous driving, especially for public transport in rural areas. That is why we want to create model cities for autonomous transport in the Elbe-Weser region as soon as the 5G expansion is complete. Digitalisation makes it possible to organise mobility and transport in a completely new way - individualised, improved and climate-friendly. This offers opportunities for cities and rural areas alike. The use of one's own car can be partially replaced by mobility chains that are coordinated via apps. Rental bike, scooter and car-sharing providers as well as innovative call-bus solutions such as MOIA, which are already common in large cities, make it possible to organise individual mobility in line with actual needs.

We want to expand public transport as a basic service throughout the country, and at least as a call-bus concept or a citizens' bus for less busy routes.

Due to the large area of the Elbe-Weser region and its strong interdependence with the major centres, it is of paramount importance for us to orient mobility towards the interests of the large commuter flows. Following the successful initial use of hydrogen trains by the Elbe-Weser GmbH (EVB) railway and transport company, we intend to use hydrogen trains manufactured in Lower Saxony on other routes in future via the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft (LNVG). Likewise, we aim to shift freight transport from road to rail where possible.

The task is to organise all these new mobility components in public space. The federal, state and local governments are called upon to develop a coordinated concept for the organisation of existing and new mobility services that takes into account the interests of all road users.

For the Elbe-Weser region as a rural area, the transport infrastructure is a particularly important factor. In the future, digital offers can be effective ways to better connect rural regions in particular. The ITS transport conference, the "showcase of mobility applications", which is taking place in Hamburg, represents a great opportunity here. Here, digital offers in both logistics and local passenger transport will be demonstrated to the public and their practicality presented. The CDU Elbe-Weser would like to see these offers not end with the conference, but continue to be tested in the region. In our view, it would be conceivable to set up a test route for autonomously operated public transport in the region. We therefore call on the state and the districts to take the results of the ITS conference to heart and test their transferability to the Elbe-Weser region.

To promote cycling and micro-mobility, we want to advance the planning and construction of cycle lanes as part of sensible transport planning. They enable attractive, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly mobility for everyday traffic and require additional space in our cities for this purpose.

VI. Energy management - using the power of nature and storing clean energy

A clean, reliable and affordable supply of energy is the basis of our prosperity. However, it is indispensable for maintaining and expanding industrial and commercial settlements. These are only possible where there is also a cheap and reliable energy supply.

With the phase-out of nuclear energy by 2022 and of coal-fired power generation by 2038 at the latest, the Federal Republic of Germany will do without the two main pillars of its previous weather-independent base and medium load supply. The current decline in the realisation of new wind farms, but also increasing hurdles in the renewal of existing wind farms, are therefore highly detrimental to the future reliable energy supply of the industrial locations in the Elbe-Weser region. The future energy supply will no longer be provided at a few locations in large power plants, but will be highly decentralised and diversified.

The success of the energy transition depends on three interrelated factors in addition to people's acceptance: 1. the expansion of all forms of renewable energy production, 2. a stable supply through a well-developed supply network and 3. the creation of storage capacities for surplus energy.

In the coming years, subsidies under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) for wind power, photovoltaic and biogas plants of the first hour will gradually be phased out. We call for the repowering of wind turbines and will create the legal prerequisites for this in regional planning.

We stand by the privileged status of onshore wind turbines, because it remains one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity. The goal is to reserve two percent of the area as priority land for wind turbines.

The sporadically existing solar land registers still show a high expansion potential for solar power systems, which we want to use with improved advice for municipalities, homeowners and tenants. Roofs of large warehouses and logistics halls offer ample space for solar power systems. We urge that these are not treated like large ground- mounted systems and have to compete with them in tenders. In order to compensate for the lack of electricity generation from photovoltaics in winter and/or when there is little sunshine, we want to promote combined heat and power plants (CHP) in larger single-family or multi-family homes and businesses and also expand them in public facilities. CHP units make very efficient use of fuel by simultaneously generating electricity and heat. The operation of CHPs is particularly suitable in rural areas, as valuable biogas can be obtained from by-products - such as liquid manure and dung. Therefore, smaller biogas plants should also be promoted in the future.

The 40-45 % CO2 contained in raw biogas is ideally converted into synthetic natural gas together with hydrogen from surplus wind power. We advocated that the electricity from renewable energy plants used to produce green hydrogen be exempted from the EEG levy. Real laboratories for the economic production of synthetic natural gas will be supported by our party. The natural gas grid has the capacity to serve as a storage facility for synthetic natural gas from wind energy. If this is converted back into electricity in gas-fired power plants elsewhere, there is also the possibility of avoiding the construction of expensive and unpopular power lines across valuable farmland.

Furthermore, electricity storage facilities are needed for buffering surplus electricity, but also as control energy for the primary and secondary reserve.

The storage of hydrogen in the underground salt caverns on the Stade , for example, represents a great opportunity. This can be used to buffer the electricity peaks of volatile renewable energies.

Municipalities that hold stakes in coal-fired power plants should work towards converting them into CO2-neutral thermal storage power plants. In addition to the use of surplus wind power, the existing grid structure offers a significant advantage.

We will support the expansion of large-scale storage - for example from old batteries of electric cars or large redox flow batteries in old, no longer used oil storage facilities. Even in their first use, batteries from electric cars and smaller home electricity storage units can be harnessed as a sink and source of balancing energy. Owners can thus tap into additional income. For this to happen, however, thousands of home storage systems must be networked to form large-scale virtual storage systems. By reducing existing bureaucratic hurdles and promoting intervention-proof hardware and software for remote control, this potential should also be exploited. This also applies to the networking of mini and micro CHPs below the current 50 KW limit to form virtual power plants.

Offshore electricity production in the North Sea will increase to 20 GW by 2030 and to 40 GW by 2040. The transport of this energy to the centres of consumption in southern Germany will affect the Elbe-Weser region through a large number of planned new transmission lines. In the interest of the people affected, we advocate state-of-the-art underground cabling, as developed by Stadtwerke Stade with the AGS method.

Whether and when a successfully functioning hydrogen economy is established depends largely on supply and demand increasing to the same extent in order to create the will to invest on both sides - on the supplier side of hydrogen as well as on the consumer side. Municipalities and districts as well as municipal enterprises can make an important contribution here by investing in hydrogen-powered vehicles themselves and thus acting as buyers on the market. In particular, municipal building yards and waste disposal companies as well as local public transport providers can play an important role here. It is also important not to approach the manufacturers of such vehicles with individual orders. We therefore call on the state of Lower Saxony to establish a joint municipal procurement alliance in order to jointly approach manufacturers and purchase a large number of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

VII. Sustainability and climate protection - big topics of our time

For us, a social market economy also means giving equal weight to the concerns of ecology, environmental, nature and climate protection in political processes. The care of creation is of great importance to us.

The mega-topic of this time is climate protection. Climate gases such as CO2 and methane cause a heat build-up and cause temperatures to rise. The emission of climate gases must be reduced, especially to prevent so-called tipping points from being crossed and thus to prevent the domino effects of global warming from accelerating further.

Climate protection can only be achieved with and through technological progress and the art of engineering. Both are disproportionately available in the Elbe-Weser region with regard to the use of renewable energies. The achievement of greenhouse gas reduction targets can be combined in a very concrete way with sustainable value creation in rural areas. In addition to the expansion of wind power and solar energy, this includes the increased use of biogas through the production of pure biomethane for the energy and transport sectors. The use of currently often down-regulated amounts of electricity from renewable energies for the decentralised production of hydrogen and the biological methanisation of hydrogen offer a promising opportunity to establish storage technology for volatile renewable energies. The associated additional binding of CO2 also significantly improves the CO2 balances of biogas plants. We are committed to this further development of biogas technology with the perspective of preserving value creation in rural areas even after the expiry of subsidy periods under the Renewable Energy Sources Act.

We recognise the important contribution that intact raised bogs and fens make to climate protection. However, moor protection includes the preservation of a living and sustainable homeland. That is why it is essential to involve the inhabitants of the moors and the farmers who work there in the moor protection strategy. As important water reservoirs, the peatlands prevent the flooding of the villages, so rewetting strategies alone are by no means enough - economic perspectives for the farming families and the people in the peatland villages must also be shown. We are committed to sustainable and viable models for the future of the peatlands.

For the issues of nature, species and water protection, the CDU Elbe-Weser welcomes the agreement on the "Lower Saxony Way" which has meanwhile been adopted in the Lower Saxony state parliament. For the diverse landscape in our Elbe- Weser region, ranging from the Wadden Sea to the marshes, the moors, the Geest and the heath, extensive nature conservation measures to preserve and maintain this structure are of great importance. We are convinced that this requires the joint efforts of all actors involved and thus in particular the involvement of landowners and managers. Only constructive cooperation between official nature conservation authorities, voluntary organisations, associations and users can achieve the desired results. This cooperation is the foundation of the agreements on the "Lower Saxony Way". Against this backdrop, we would like to encourage the working groups with practitioners from nature conservation and agriculture, especially at the district level, to accompany the further development. We see these activities as a great opportunity for improved cooperation between the various associations of agriculture, nature conservation and also other nature users such as hunters and anglers.

The explicit appreciation of voluntary activities for species protection, such as the improvement and creation of near-natural waters, the planting of hedges and flower strips for native flora and fauna, the protection of native meadow birds and much more, is very close to our hearts. It has proven successful to establish nature conservation funds for concrete measures at the district level. Either the hunting tax should not be levied or the funds should be used for such tasks.

In the future, too, protection behind the dykes on the coast and the Elbe must be permanently ensured. Dyke shepherds fulfil an important function in maintaining dykes. The increasing predation due to the unregulated spread of the wolf must be countered by effective measures, such as herd protection fences, a sufficient protection zone along the main dyke line, but also the banishment and, if necessary, hunting.

Groundwater and drinking water protection are high priorities for us. We welcome the consideration of emission values in addition to immission values of the monitoring network in the designation of nitrate-sensitive "red" areas by the state. In order to further improve water protection, we call for an expansion of the monitoring network with a regionalisation of the pollution areas. This will enable agriculture to react even more efficiently to the respective nitrate situation, also in cooperation with water suppliers.

As an alternative to the current strategy of taking more and more land away from agriculture through compensation measures, we call for a guiding land strategy with the possibility of ecological upgrading of already existing compensation, forest and other land.

VIII. Agriculture and food industry: for more cooperation!

The food industry is a structural economic sector in the Elbe-Weser region. The production of healthy and safe food for consumers, taking into account the concerns of nature conservation and animal welfare, is the focus of the medium-sized agricultural sector in our region.

The growing world population with steadily decreasing arable land continues to require increases in the efficiency of agriculture through the use of technological and breeding progress in the sense of resource- and climate-friendly production. The CDU is clearly committed to modern breeding methods such as the CRISPR/CAS gene scissors and to keeping science and industry in the state. Agriculture in the Elbe- Weser region has made considerable productivity gains in recent years and at the same time contributed to increasing food security. This is a small but important contribution of this region to the big issue of feeding the world's population.

The Elbe-Weser region, with the large number of efficient family farm businesses located here, the professional competence and the high level of training of the farmers, as well as the established distribution structures, is one of the leading agricultural regions in Europe. This applies equally to the dairy industry, the processing industry and arable farming, fruit growing on the Lower Elbe and also to the production of renewable energies. We will consistently support this development and continue to campaign for the acceptance of modern agricultural production methods within the framework of social discussion processes and advocate legislation that gives farms the necessary opportunities for survival and development. Conflicting laws and regulations and unmanageable sets of rules that make any further development of farms uneconomical must be put to the test. Against this background, in addition to all the other aspects mentioned, the following applies: Farmers must retain their passion for their work! For us, organic and conventional farming systems are on an equal footing; the best of both will be the benchmark for the future.

With large investments in agricultural technology, crop production, animal husbandry and alternative energies, farming contributes strongly to the economic development of the upstream and downstream sectors and also to the credit services sector in the Elbe-Weser region. At the same time, agricultural production is brought into harmony with consumer and animal protection as well as nature conservation and environmental protection as hardly anywhere in the world. The preservation of species-rich plant and animal populations is the goal of modern land management processes. Therefore, we fully support the "Lower Saxony Way" for more nature, species and water protection. This also includes targeted insect protection. This is the first step towards a social contract; increased expenditure by farmers must be appropriately rewarded and the "production good nature conservation" must be remunerated accordingly.

The existing structures of the agricultural and food sector are based on a considerable depth of investment. Therefore, agricultural policy processes that further develop economic, ecological and social requirements in harmony with societal demands must always be reviewed for planning security and future-proof feasibility. It is imperative that the agricultural policy framework allows farming families to survive in the face of fierce global competition and to earn an adequate income.

The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has had an intensive impact on farming in the Elbe-Weser region. By using renewable raw materials, residues from animal husbandry and biogenic waste, farming families are making the politically desired contribution to climate protection and sustainable energy production. In the next few years, the first plants will lose the EEG subsidies. We are committed to ensuring that biogas production also has prospects under market conditions, for example through the decentralised methanisation of hydrogen.

Forestry also makes an important contribution to added value in rural areas. Silvicultural goals should be formulated taking into account ecological, but also economic aspects; this also applies in particular to the discussion about so-called native species in the establishment of climate-stable forests. In addition to the previous functions of the forest - the supply of the raw material wood and local recreation - we want to establish a system that promotes CO2 storage.

A large part of the agricultural value added in the Elbe-Weser region is realised through fodder production and processing. Milk as well as pork, poultry and beef are produced here at the highest professional level. In addition to objective product quality, our society is increasingly focusing on aspects of production quality. We are committed to the further development of husbandry conditions with appropriate transition periods, without losing sight of the competitiveness of the local farms. Social acceptance is a location factor. Nevertheless, we oppose ideologically motivated symbolic policies without any benefit for animal welfare. The relocation of parts of livestock farming or arable farming to neighbouring EU countries or third countries as a result of competitive disadvantages is neither beneficial for animal welfare nor for our economic strength or the climate. In addition, the CDU also supports the highly innovative horse breeding in our region and its associated economic sectors: There is no important equestrian event (World and European Championships) without horses from the Elbe- Weser region!

Groundwater protection is one of the agricultural mega-topics of this time. Agriculture has already invested heavily in improved nutrient management systems and reduced application rates. Nevertheless, it is currently facing considerable regulatory challenges. In particular, the designation of nitrate- and phosphate- sensitive (so-called red or grey) areas on the basis of the previous measuring point system rightly meets with great reservations in agriculture. We strongly support Lower Saxony's approach of upgrading the measuring point system and designating areas on the basis of emission data, oriented towards the polluter-pays principle. Within a reasonable period of time, agriculture must have a realistic chance of being released from the regime of red and grey areas if it clearly does not contribute to groundwater pollution through its fertilisation behaviour. An important aspect for us is an optimal distribution of farm manure across the state of Lower Saxony. Therefore, we want to promote the development of nutrient treatment plants.

Agriculture stands out as one of the leading economic sectors in the application of digitalisation. Under the keyword "smart farming", this leads to further considerable specifications in fertilisation and plant protection. Overall, we want to keep agriculture at the centre of society for our rural Elbe-Weser region, and not only from an economic perspective.

IX. Living in rural areas is only possible if it is also possible to build

Our region is characterised by life in the villages and the medium-sized centres. Fortunately, there is a trend towards living in the countryside again, also among younger people. Our villages are changing from centres of employment to places to eat and sleep. Unfortunately, the number of farms has declined considerably in recent decades. Nevertheless, there are still obstacles to create of new residential areas in villages due to immission control.

The Odour Immission Guideline (GIRL) was introduced in 2000 as an instrument of immission control to regulate the coexistence of housing and active agriculture. However, the immission guide values of the GIRL are mathematically exceeded in many of our localities by the existing animal stables, even if they are no longer actively operated. For the majority of the population, these exceedances usually do not represent a disturbance, as they perceive the corresponding odours as customary and "belonging to the countryside". However, these odour immissions are now regularly the subject of decisions in licensing and urban land use planning procedures, which often means that no building permits can be issued. This connection is a major problem, especially for the Elbe-Weser region, since in a large part of the villages with contiguous residential development the orientation values for odour pollution are exceeded, making it impossible to designate residential areas for building planning purposes. Following the will of the citizens, it should also be possible to re-use abandoned stables.

In contrast to the situation in rural areas, noise prevention tends to be the limiting factor in urban areas. Here, the Federal Ministry for the Environment has included the new area category "Urban Areas" within the framework of an amendment to the TA Lärm (Technical Instructions on Noise) in 2017 with increased limit values in order not to hinder the further development of cities. Our villages are particularly close to our hearts as Christian Democrats. That is why we are strongly advocating at the federal level, within the framework of a Building Land Mobilisation Act, that the Federal Land Utilisation Ordinance be expanded to include the building area category "village living" in parallel to the improvements in urban areas. Local immissions must no longer be an obstacle to the designation of new residential areas. Likewise, we would like to achieve fundamental facilitations for the creation of living space so that our villages have a future as attractive places to live.

X. We have something to offer! Culture and tourism in the Elbe- Weser region

In the age of globalisation, preserving and strengthening the cultural landscape in our region is more important than ever. Strengthening the distinctive hallmarks of our region, namely the cultural heritage, the eventful history, the hospitality, the strong sense of citizenship and a strong cultural life are and remain important goals for us in the Elbe-Weser region.

In addition to preserving and promoting the language, we would like to give more support to the diverse local cultural activities, which are only made possible by extensive voluntary work. In doing so, it is important to us that the cultural offers are understood and organised even more strongly than before as a network in order to ensure a better overview of the wide range and thus a greater broad impact.

The Elbe-Weser region is rich in cultural treasures that we would like to preserve and present in a contemporary way. The Schwedenspeicher in Stade, the Bachmann Museum in Bremervörde, the museums, the German Horse Museum in Verden, the Aeronauticum in , the Museum Windstärke 10 in Cuxhaven, Studio A in and many other museums are places with charisma and appeal and unique offerings. Their preservation and development are important to us.

The CDU Elbe-Weser is also committed to preserving the organ landscape, which is unique worldwide, as well as the formative historical brick culture. We strongly support the activities of the Landschaftsverband, which carries out valuable and regionally related cultural work in the Elbe-Weser triangle.

Countless volunteers from the field of local and regional history, artists, musicians, writers and actors complement the public cultural activities and enrich society. Our districts and municipalities should keep culture in the region alive in the long term through funding opportunities for cultural institutions, further training opportunities for volunteers and the maintenance of event and cultural centres.

The quality of life between the Elbe and the Weser is great. This is not least due to the high recreational value of the region. To keep it that way, it is necessary to maintain and further develop our tourist offers. This is all the more true against the backdrop of the Corona pandemic, which is causing considerable restrictions for these areas.

Tourism in Germany has been on the upswing for quite some time. Driven by the desire for regionality, climate protection and - most recently - the global pandemic, domestic travel is gaining in importance. Nationally, the North Sea coast is a particularly popular travel destination. The district of Cuxhaven hosts several million overnight guests every year. But the other districts also offer individual strengths and many opportunities for recreation, from hiking routes and cycling tours to peat barge trips or farm holidays, short breaks during the apple and cherry blossom season or harvest time in the Alte Land. Numerous hotels and country inns with charm offer their guests a wonderful ambience. In the future, we would like to support them in continuing on their chosen path towards special quality features and certifications. The Elbe cycle touring bus is a good example of successful local recreation.

In addition, further cross-county projects and networking in the region will be particularly important. Guests do not think in terms of district or national borders. In this respect, it is important to become even more attractive, especially for local recreation seekers from Hamburg and Bremen. City dwellers in particular can enjoy nature and tranquillity in the Elbe-Weser region on day trips, which they often miss in their everyday lives. Beyond purely economic considerations, we also see tourism as a soft location factor. Attractive tourism offers also serve the residents as local recreation and thus increase the quality of life. In this respect, we promote a far- reaching and holistic understanding of tourism, which deserves increased political attention in the competition between regions.

The bundling of structures and services, which the CDU has always supported, has already borne much fruit. Here, too, the visibility of the offers could be noticeably increased through diverse voluntary commitment. A special example is the working group "Osteland", which, through consistent networking of local initiatives and offers along the , also provides its own offers with a broad impact. At the annual "Tag der Oste" (Day of the Oste), the awarding of the "Golden Pike" - also known as the "Oste Oscar" - has an impact far beyond the Elbe-Weser region. Such cross-county initiatives are exemplary and will continue to receive our support in the future. Tourist offers that have so far been successfully established at district level, such as the "North Paths" in the district of Rotenburg/Wümme, should be examined with regard to an expansion to the entire Elbe-Weser region in the interaction of the tourism associations of the districts.

XI Education as a decisive factor! Much achieved - major tasks: equal opportunities and compatibility of family and career

Education and upbringing are even more important today than in the past. Educational opportunities in crèches, day-care centres and schools as well as in all other adult education institutions are key location factors for rural areas. We can build on well-developed care and education services. This system must be improved. However, the greatest possible freedom of choice for parents, children and young people must be maintained. Equal opportunities for all children - by providing every child with a school and educational offer that is appropriate to his or her talents. In detail, we pursue the following goals - depending on the stage of life:

Child day care facilities must not be overburdened with regard to a supposed educational mandate. In the coming years, a focus must be on making childcare hours more flexible, which is essential due to the changing conditions on the labour market. The number of all-day programmes must be further increased and childminders' initiatives must also be promoted. We also attach particular importance to good cooperation between day-care centres and primary schools.

The compatibility of family and work should be improved by giving young people incentives and realistic perspectives for independent family planning and, in particular , by giving well-educated young women the opportunity to pursue a career in line with their qualifications and still not have to do without a family. This must be accompanied by a campaign to gain the understanding of the business community in order to expand flexible working hours and company childcare facilities. This will give women equal opportunities to exploit their professional potential and reach management positions.

In view of fluctuating pupil numbers, the school situation as a whole must be evaluated and constantly adapted to changing framework conditions, while maintaining the principle of schooling as close to home as possible, especially in the primary school sector. In this context, the rapid filling of vacant head teacher positions at primary schools in rural areas plays a major role. The expansion of all-day schooling must continue to have the highest priority. However, it must be ensured that the municipalities are not left alone in the financing. Where these do not sufficiently cover the care needs of families, extended offers such as after-school care centres must also be maintained.

For the CDU, special-needs schools remain an important instrument of education policy. Inclusion must be a right, but not a duty at the expense of the children. Pedagogical concepts for this must be constantly developed.

The introduction of secondary schools has ensured that gifted and talented pupils are offered in the countryside. This has created a basis for ideological debates on education to become a thing of the past in favour of the needs of the pupils. Now every pupil can receive the best possible educational opportunities throughout the country and close to home.

The Grammar schools must be maintained and developed as independent school forms. The "bleeding out" that is already taking place in some cases due to extensive secondments of teachers must stop. Existing grammar schools should not be replaced by comprehensive schools, as otherwise there is a danger that grammar school curricula will no longer be adequately taught. For all types of schools, the highest priority is to ensure sufficient provision of teaching.

Furthermore, we support all efforts,  to raise the level of education and training at school and, if necessary, to supplement it with public schools. In this context, we also advocate, among other things, model courses in the STEM area (STEM = science, technology, engineering and mathematics), in which teaching is no longer based on the competence-oriented approaches that are proving to be increasingly incompatible with the requirements at colleges and universities and in professional life. First-year students in technical subjects do not always meet the necessary entry qualifications. Dropout rates are at 30% and rising. We as CDU Elbe-Weser call for closer links between companies, schools and colleges or universities in the technical field. In this context, teaching positions financed by industry must not be taboo. Due to their professional experience outside of school, lateral entrants offer great potential, especially in the STEM subjects.  to provide a diverse range of vocational schools and to strive for their expansion into regional competence centres for vocational education and training. In this context, close cooperation and coordination with the local economy should be emphasised,  to strengthen the autonomous school,  establish or further develop technical schools. An example of this is the nautical college in Cuxhaven.  further promote the development of the universities in the Elbe-Weser region (e.g. Hochschule 21 in , PFH Private Hochschule Göttingen Hansecampus Stade or also Leibniz FH Hannover at the location). Dual courses of study as a joint offer by universities and companies significantly increase the attractiveness of our region for students and young professionals and will have a lasting positive impact on economic development. This also applies to cooperation in the existing adult education institutions,  intensify close cooperation with Hamburg, Bremen and Bremerhaven in order to use the optimal opportunities offered by the universities and universities of applied sciences there for our region.

XII. More social cohesion in rural areas

We want to preserve and strengthen the Elbe-Weser region as a region in which social cohesion that has grown over generations continues and is further developed.

In contrast to the conurbations, rural areas continue to be at a disadvantage when it comes to social policy issues. An equal treatment of the Elbe-Weser region with the conurbations of Hamburg and Bremen is indispensable to ensure uniform living conditions.

This applies in particular to the provision of doctors. It must be ensured that doctors and hospitals in rural areas will continue to be provided close to home in the future. Districts and municipalities should actively promote the settlement of young doctors by advertising the advantages of their respective municipalities and, if necessary, scholarships. The Elbe-Weser region can benefit from the fact that young doctors who want to live in northern Lower Saxony have studied medicine at the European Medical School in Oldenburg. It is important to establish contacts with the students there at an early stage.

An important goal of our policy remains to strengthen families in their role as a community of responsibility. Families are the foundation of our society. Families should feel comfortable and accepted in the Elbe-Weser region. Family-friendliness must be a trademark of our region. We support the local alliances for families that have already been founded in large numbers in the Elbe-Weser region. Family friendliness is particularly characterised by the compatibility of family and career. That's why we support crèches and kindergartens close to home. But we also support mothers and fathers who want to look after their child at home in the first years of life.

The emancipation of women remains one of the world's mega-topics. In our society, too, not all possibilities have been exhausted to implement the equality of women in practice. For a limited period of time, quotas can help to significantly increase the share of women in political, economic and social participation. The CDU has always been fully committed to gender equality and will continue to take up this challenge in the future.

Improved local public transport with a denser network and more frequent stops contributes significantly to family-friendliness, as it enables children and young people to be more independently mobile. This is particularly helpful for single parents, about 90 percent of whom are women. Citizens' buses and shared taxis can be a useful addition to local public transport services.

Especially in voluntary work, many people take care of their fellow human beings who are in need or simply need help and support. Especially during the Corona pandemic, this great willingness to help proved its worth and gave support to many elderly people. Volunteers contribute to social cohesion in society and relieve the state institutions through their work. Therefore, they should be promoted, supported and protected through further benefits and improvements in the framework conditions in terms of insurance, liability and taxation.

Many municipalities support volunteers with discounts, e.g. through the Ehrenamtskarte. Other districts, cities and municipalities should follow this example. For us, the promotion of voluntary work also includes the financial support of associations.

We stand for a good coexistence of all generations. Senior citizens should also play an active role in shaping life in the community. Their experience and skills must be used even more. Old and young can benefit from each other. That is why we need seniors in associations and political parties. But they also need senior-specific offers, such as trips for senior citizens offered by many municipalities. We particularly support the work of the multi-generation houses and senior citizens' advisory councils in the Elbe-Weser region.

The care of older and sick people deserves greater social recognition. The training of suitable care workers is of great importance for the future. We welcome a planned joint project between the University of Applied Sciences21 in Buxtehude and a partner university in Antalya to create a corresponding training network and see this as a beacon project for further such partnerships.

Social change challenges us to continue to develop youth work as well. The CDU Elbe-Weser is therefore particularly committed to maintaining and sustainably improving the structural living conditions in our rural region through appropriate offers, projects and measures. It supports youth recreation centres and youth leisure centres, local youth work, youth hostels, cultural, concert and sporting activities for young people to spend their leisure time in an appealing way.

XIII Demographic change - identifying opportunities!

As a societal megatrend, demographic change is of particular importance for the Elbe- Weser region, which tends to be more rural. The population is decreasing overall, people are getting older on average and the composition of society is becoming more colourful. However, these fundamental developments do not apply to every single . In this respect, demographic development also depends on the region. This development harbours risks, but also offers great opportunities for the Elbe- Weser region. The risks must be countered by adapting as early as possible. We are therefore particularly in favour of taking long-term demographic development into account in infrastructure, settlement and school planning. Above all, concepts for dealing with the housing stock in rural areas must also be developed. Against this background, we welcome the fact that in our region, too, districts and municipalities are jointly implementing measures to cope with demographic change. The goal of political decisions should not be the constant downsizing, but improving services. The reorganisation of local authority structures, which has already been completed in many places and begun elsewhere, is already showing initial successes here. The CDU Elbe-Weser continues to support the municipalities on this path where it makes sense or is desired.

Demographic development must also be seen as a great opportunity in the Elbe- Weser region. Living longer also means participating in social life for longer. Experiences and traditions can be passed on. Today more than ever, the coexistence of old and young, which has its roots in the cultural values of our society, is a sustainable model of life that supports society.

XIV Immigrants and refugees - opportunities and challenges for the Elbe-Weser Region

Immigration to the Elbe-Weser region has increased significantly. A distinction must be made between different groups of immigrants:

• People who are politically persecuted in their home countries enjoy asylum in Germany for the time they are threatened in their home country. It is a success of European policy that all European states can be classified as safe countries of origin. It must be made clear to asylum seekers from these countries that their applications have no chance of success.

• We also welcome war and civil war refugees under the provisions of the Geneva Convention until the conflict in their home countries has ended, even if they have arrived in Germany despite European agreements to the contrary.

• People who came to Germany because of difficult economic conditions in their home countries have - with all understanding for the motivation of the immigrants - no fundamental claim to be able to stay in Germany. It is in the interest of all concerned that their situation is clarified quickly.

• Skilled workers who come to Germany as a result of regulated procedures are needed more than ever. We expressly support the immigration of qualified and motivated people. We particularly support the lighthouse project born in the Elbe-Weser region for the qualification of foreign, German-speaking professionals according to German care standards. A cooperation between the Buxtehude University of Applied Sciences21 and the ABU Antalya University, the German Red Cross, the Elbe-Kliniken and the Dr. Hancken Clinic, together with other partners, can have an enormous impact as part of a sustainable training partnership for the Elbe-Weser region. We see motivated German-speaking nursing staff with a high standard of training as an enrichment for everyone. With an immigration law and the reduction of unnecessary hurdles, we ensure clear rules and a reduction of unnecessary and frustrating bureaucracy.

We feel great sympathy for the suffering of thousands of civil war refugees and asylum seekers. They should be able to make a good new start in the Elbe-Weser region. We want to support them in this. We also feel great gratitude towards the many full-time and voluntary helpers who look after refugees and asylum seekers, such as the German Red Cross, the churches or neighbourhood initiatives.

But we also do not deny that increased immigration poses major challenges for cities and municipalities.

Immigrants for economic reasons are to be distinguished from refugees and persons entitled to asylum. For immigrants for economic reasons, the right of asylum does not provide a basis for the right to stay. Here, the state of Lower Saxony and the administrative offices of the districts are called upon to make greater efforts in carrying out deportations and to increase the deportation rate.

We see a Europe of open borders as a great achievement that facilitates the movement of travel and goods. However, we also see the dangers for internal security that come from foreign criminals crossing the border more easily. That is why we demand that the police in the Elbe-Weser region is supported in better tracking down people smugglers and gangs of burglars and in preventing asylum abuse.

Refugees and persons entitled to asylum who are granted the right to stay and temporarily find a new home in the Elbe-Weser region should receive support in finding a job so that they will not permanently secure their livelihood through social benefits. A prerequisite for this is especially learning the , which should already begin during the asylum procedure. Refugees and persons entitled to asylum with qualified qualifications can be an enrichment for the economy in the Elbe-Weser region. We stand for integrating these people into our society. However, it must also be expected that all refugees and asylum seekers in turn show a willingness to integrate and adapt to the basic values in our country. Non-violence, liberal democracy, gender equality and religious tolerance are indispensable for us also towards foreign immigrants.

With the influx of tens of thousands of civil war and economic refugees to Lower Saxony, there is growing pressure on the state government to enforce the existing asylum law with clear guidelines, i.e. to return unrecognised asylum seekers to their countries of origin through faster procedures even before they are distributed to the municipalities, and to enable recognised refugees from civil war and crisis areas to integrate meaningfully and create prospects for a recognised life in our society and according to our guiding culture.

The CDU Elbe-Weser is in favour of a fair distribution of refugees within the European Union according to sensibly defined quotas and distribution keys. On the refugee issue, the next few years will determine whether the federal government, the states and the municipalities will be able to design a coordinated crisis management that will lead to a relief of the situation on the ground. More than any other development in recent years, the results of this refugee policy are directly perceived and registered on the ground. These are multiple reason for the municipal level to play a key role in the areas of integration and care for refugees.

XV. Efficient administrative structures for active municipalities and districts

When the whole world is in upheaval, public administration must also change! As CDU we see our citizens as customers who rightly expect the administration to provide its services in a high quality and speedy processing time. That is why we are committed to modernising our local administrations. We want the idea of service to be at the top of the agenda in district halls and town halls. This includes good accessibility with the possibility for online appointments, reliable service guarantees with clear commitments for waiting and processing times, as well as active and transparent public relations with open communication on all channels. All essential services should also be made available electronically. This also requires a consistent digitalisation and optimisation of internal administrative processes.

In order to continue to be a good service provider in the future, despite the increasingly complex legal situation and the growing demands on administrative action, we need the most suitable employees. This is becoming increasingly difficult in view of the shortage of skilled workers and the competition with industries that in some cases pay significantly better wages than the public collective bargaining law provides for. We therefore want to ensure that our municipalities are attractive employers. Flexible working hours, a creative and open working atmosphere, home office options and a family-friendly working environment are important building blocks for attracting and retaining skilled workers.

Only districts and municipalities that are adequately financed will be able to perform their tasks for the benefit of their citizens in the long term. Maintaining or restoring the financial capacity of our municipalities is therefore a central goal of the CDU. In order to achieve this goal, we believe that three central prerequisites must be fulfilled:

1. A fair and following the principle of connexity adequate financial envelope of the municipalities by the state and federal level. In recent years, the Federal Government in particular has made considerable efforts to relieve the financial burden on the districts as well as the cities and municipalities and to redistribute the costs of social developments.

2. Moderate and responsible decisions by local politics that are not only oriented towards what is desirable, but also towards what is feasible. Improved financial resources by the state and federal governments, optimised administrative processes and actual inter-municipal cooperation open up new scope for our municipalities. It will be crucial that the savings achieved as municipal policy are not carelessly cancelled out by additional expenditure elsewhere. The budget law for Lower Saxony's municipalities - similar to the debt brake for the federal states and the federal government - stipulates that districts, cities and municipalities must operate sustainably and not get into a spiral of ever more debt. The CDU takes this moral obligation for future generations seriously. Voluntary services must therefore always be critically scrutinised and limited to the minimum that is justifiable from a budgetary point of view. Limiting and reducing municipal debt should not be the exception, but the rule in our region. This is the only way to enable municipalities to think boldly ahead and make future-oriented investments.

3. The opportunities offered by the metropolitan regions of Hamburg and Northwest (formerly Bremen/Oldenburg) are to be used for the Elbe-Weser region. Structural policy cooperation serves to optimise functions in business, science and infrastructure and to position the region through joint external marketing. At the same time, the Elbe-Weser region must continue to be viewed in its entirety and must not allow itself to be divided. It must continue to exist as a cultural and economic unit. This is best guaranteed by close cooperation between the five districts and the regional associations and institutions.

4. In addition, it is important to maintain, expand and modernise the existing federal and state authorities and institutions.

XVI Internal security: less crime in the Elbe-Weser region

Ensuring internal security for all citizens has been the brand core of the CDU since our foundation. In a rapidly changing world, combined with ever new challenges in the fight against crime, we feel all the more committed to this claim.

We are pleased that with the CDU’s participation in the Lower Saxony state government, the crime clearance rate has been rising again since 2017: in 2018, it was 62.8%. It is also positive that the number of criminal offences in Lower Saxony is steadily decreasing and in 2018, at 506,585, was at an all-time low since 1990. Security must remain a priority issue in the future to ensure that this trend continues. We want to make the Elbe-Weser region the number one security region in Lower Saxony.

Specifically, we demand:

• the strengthening of crime prevention. Extremism prevention must be given a high priority through increased cooperation with schools and youth welfare. This also includes dealing with and educating people about the National Socialist dictatorship in Germany, the unjust state of the GDR, the danger posed by Islamism and the growing threat posed by populist currents from the left and right and radicalised conspiracy theorists.

• the expansion of victim protection. Our principle remains: Victim protection comes before offender protection! The Lower Saxony police and all other security authorities should continue to cooperate more closely with the association "Weißer Ring" (White Ring) in order to offer additional support to victims of criminals. The "Day of Crime Victims" on 22 March each year should also be celebrated in a dignified manner in the Elbe-Weser region in order to raise public awareness for the protection and support of crime victims.

• solidarity and support for the police in Lower Saxony. We are concerned about the development that police officers are increasingly becoming victims of criminal offences while on duty. In addition to the consistent prosecution of these crimes, we believe it is also important to show public stance and clearly demonstrate support for the police and all other security forces. Specifically, the police should be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment such as bullet-proof waistcoats. The police profession must become more modern and attractive through good training, adequate pay, hardship allowances and reasonable working time models. We want a visible police in public spaces!

• the support of fire, security and rescue forces. In recent years, there have been repeated attacks on firefighters and rescue workers. These offences must be prosecuted consistently. In addition, it must be examined whether a reduction in the number of attacks can be achieved by increasing the severity of penalties. Firefighters and rescue workers can be sure of the CDU’s support.

• strengthening the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an "early warning system". Today, even more than in the past, it is important to be informed about the dangers of political extremism at an early stage in order to be able to act quickly.

• the creation of a competence centre against net and cyber crime to comprehensively fight crime on the internet with a networking of all relevant institutions. This centre is to be involved in particular in the eradication of child pornography, but also in the fight against hatred and incitement in social media.

• the support of the prison in Bremervörde. The JVA Bremervörde does excellent work in the middle of the Elbe-Weser region. The model of partially privatised prison work has proven itself. The good resocialisation work of the prison in Bremervörde has enabled prisoners to lead socially responsible lives without committing crimes in the future. The funds for resocialisation work must continue to be sufficient so that the population in the Elbe-Weser region can continue to live safely.

• the effective fight against residential burglaries. Even if the number of home burglaries is falling, it must continue to be a focus of the fight against crime because of the dramatic, often psychological effects on the victims. Older people are particularly vulnerable and naturally less able to defend themselves. In the Elbe-Weser region, the rate of residents of single-family homes is particularly high. The residents should also feel safe in the future.

• People in the Elbe-Weser region were and are responsible during the Corona pandemic. We have consistently supported the hygiene and safety measures to contain the pandemic. We would like to see deliberate violations of these measures consistently prosecuted.

• Internal security and justice are directly linked. Especially in rural areas, where the population density is comparatively low but the distances are much longer, the judiciary plays a special role. It is both an employer and the foundation of the rule of law by enforcing the law. An independent judiciary is the backbone of our constitutional state and thus the guarantor of legal certainty and legal peace in our country. It protects citizens from arbitrariness and abuse of power. It is thus the foundation of our social and economic prosperity. The judiciary can only fulfil its task if it is efficient, effective and close to the citizens. We are therefore in favour of maintaining all district court locations in the future. Specialist court locations, such as labour, administrative, social or insolvency courts, should also be preserved. They provide important jobs in the region.

The CDU Elbe-Weser party will work at the appropriate levels,

- to adapt the court locations to the current security requirements, - to expand and accelerate digitisation in the courts and public prosecutors' offices, - to view demographic change as an opportunity and actively recruit young people for rural areas, - to continue to maintain the public prosecutor's offices in the future. With the establishment of specialised prosecution offices, the locations are currently being upgraded. Public prosecutors are becoming experts in legal fields. The CDU supports support the establishment of the specialised "clan crime" public prosecution office in Stade and will continue to support the Verden prosecution office as the central office for criminal corruption cases and information and communication technology. From a prosecutor's point of view, the Elbe-Weser region is thus a pioneer with regard to current crime trends.

XVII Europe, Germany and the Elbe-Weser region

Our vision of a united Europe

With the Federal Chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl, the CDU has fought for the unity of our country and for the European integration - against all the opposition of our political competitors. We are proud of this. We fully support the task of achieving Germany's internal unity, which is still ongoing after more than 30 years, especially since reunification has opened up tremendous opportunities for all Germans. Economic and cultural links to the new federal states have also strengthened our region. The commitment of our Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel is particularly valuable in this context.

We have always supported European integration. The European Union of 27 Member States offers great opportunities for our own economic development. Peace, the rule of law, democracy, social justice and a market economy are now firmly anchored in all EU member states.

We need the European Union to provide an effective response to the major challenges of today, such as digitisation, climate change or the migration crisis. We have a clear vision of what Europe's future should look like so that it is strong, successful and capable of action. Europe has every reason to be proud of its history, values and culture. Europe is a place of longing in the world. But without its own advocacy of European values in the world, this community will be jeopardised. That is why we are committed to a united Europe. We firmly believe in Europe and its future. That is why we are fighting for majorities that make the right course for Europe possible.

In the future, too, we want a Europe that secures peace and not only talks about responsibility in the world, but increasingly takes its fate into its own hands. In doing so, we are counting on increased military cooperation, peaceful resolution of conflicts and a common foreign and security policy to ensure Europe's security and stability in a more turbulent world. Europe is a promise of peace. In the new world order, new efforts are needed to keep this promise. Words alone do not strengthen Europe's voice in the world. It is time for action - with credible diplomacy, with effective development policy, with an effective defence policy. We remain transatlantic and are becoming more European at the same time.

With a "Europe of security", we want to protect people from terrorism and organised crime. To achieve this, we are counting on better cooperation between authorities, secure external borders and law and order. In the face of global terrorism, organised crime and new forms of cybercrime on the Internet, Europe must make even greater efforts to keep this promise in the future. Wrongly understood data protection must not jeopardise security. For security within Europe, we need better protection towards the outside. The protection of Europe's external borders is a common task.

Europe's prosperity depends on how successful we are with our products on the world markets. Only if 'Made in Europe' is a sign of quality growth, good jobs and social security will be possible in the future. That is why we in Europe must follow the principle: Earning comes before distributing. Europe is a promise of prosperity. Prosperity must be earned anew every day. Growth and prosperity do not fall from the sky. That is why it is particularly important to have strategic key industries with which we want to achieve top positions in the world. To this end, we are focusing on research and development, artificial intelligence and comprehensive digital value creation.

We are counting on a Europe of the social market economy that can assert itself effectively in the new global competition between systems. The social market economy and the values associated with it are under attack. We believe in the power of the social market economy because it serves people and combines economic success with social security. Only if Europe is successful in the world with this model can we prevent ourselves from becoming the plaything of other regions in the world. The more successful Europe is, the more it will succeed in using the principle of the social market economy to assert Europe's economic strength and European values. In doing so, we rely on fair free trade. It not only grants access to markets, but with free trade Europe has the chance to set its own standards in a new world order. Europe must be prepared to enforce its rules on the world market and to put those in their place who have no interest in a strong and successful Europe. We believe in reason and not ideology. Europe must and will live up to its responsibility for global climate protection. In doing so, we emphasise effective measures that actually serve the climate and the people. Europe has a responsibility for global climate protection and should therefore become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The benchmarks for the "European Green Deal" must be reason, effectiveness and the interests of the people.

Social security requires growth, economic success and clear rules. Europe must not drift apart - neither economically nor socially. That is why we need common rules and standards. But these must also be strictly adhered to, otherwise this undermines credibility and cohesion in the European Union. Financial stability thrives on the fact that risk and liability belong together. That is why we strictly reject euro bonds and the creation of debt at the expense of others. For cohesion in Europe, we want to fight the abuse of national social systems by other EU citizens.

Continue EU structural support in the Elbe-Weser region

Europe, Germany, Lower Saxony and our municipalities must be seen together and not separately. The EU supports cities and municipalities, small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers and labour market and social projects with funding.

The Elbe-Weser region has benefited considerably from the European Union's structural funding. A total of 2.1 billion euros flowed into Lower Saxony during the EU funding period 2014 to 2020. With the help of this funding, numerous innovative projects were realised and economic growth and sustainable jobs were created in the region. The promotion of research and infrastructure and the development of rural areas have gone hand in hand with this. We are strongly committed to continuing to invest intelligently and sustainably in the future in the period from 2021 to 2027. For Lower Saxony, about 2.4 billion euros are available for this new funding period. For the Elbe-Weser region, the increase in funds in the EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) is particularly pleasing. In addition to agricultural, environmental and climate protection measures, this fund also finances initiatives to strengthen rural areas.

The EU internal market creates jobs - and strengthens SMEs in the Elbe-Weser region

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our economy in the Elbe- Weser region. This would not have been possible without the opening of borders, the common currency and deregulation through uniform environmental laws or harmonised technical rules. The common internal market must be further consolidated. We are committed to ensuring that every new EU regulation and every new directive is tested in advance for its compatibility with small and medium-sized enterprises.

Economic development must no longer be primarily about the question of which region a sector or project to be promoted is located in, but whether the social and economic framework data require support. Joint decisions must be carried and implemented by all.

From Lower Saxony everywhere to Europe - more opportunities with Erasmus+

Every year, Erasmus+ enables more and more students, but also more and more trainees, pupils and workers to look outside the box and spend part of their education abroad in Europe. This programme has been proving its added value for more than three decades and is an effective means of tackling many of the societal challenges Europe is facing. So far, more than 10 million people have already taken advantage of this opportunity. The budget for 2021 to 2027 has been doubled. Thus, an additional 10 million people are expected to benefit from Erasmus+ over the next seven years, and with them even more participants from the Elbe-Weser region. This promotes linguistic competence and international understanding. Despite the improvements that have been achieved, we are still committed to simplifying the application process, especially for schools and training companies.

More security does not come by chance - it also comes from Brussels

Lower Saxony is a safe place. Europe is making an important contribution to keeping it that way. The entry and exit register at the EU's external borders and the security screening of people entering the Schengen area are milestones for better security in the European Union. The establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office enables effective cross-border criminal prosecution. The border management agency Frontex has already been strengthened. We are committed to expanding Frontex with 10,000 additional border guards and state-of-the-art technology.

"Bigger on big things" - respect the subsidiarity principle

European policy has a great influence on our municipalities. From services of general interest to support from the structural funds and the requirements of the banking union to energy and environmental policy, the EU sets the framework conditions. The yardstick of our policy is the principle of subsidiarity, i.e. strengthening the level that has the best local knowledge. Only those issues should be decided in Brussels for which no satisfactory solutions are possible at lower levels. We are committed to upholding the principle of subsidiarity and strengthening local self-government.

Actively use the Conference on the Future of Europe

The “Conference on the Future of Europe” will accompany us in the coming years. The aim is a broad-based and Europe-wide discourse with citizens on the longer-term goals of the European Union. This conference creates space for discussion by all and enables an active role in deciding the future of the EU.

We are committed to ensuring that the following issues are discussed during the conference:  European values,  fundamental rights and freedoms,  democratic and institutional aspects of the EU,  ecological challenges and the climate crisis,  social justice and equality,  economic and employment issues including taxation,  the digital transformation,  security and the EU's role in the world.

Our regional MEP David McAllister is the guarantor for our active participation and influence in shaping European issues in Brussels and Strasbourg.

XVIII. The Elbe-Weser region - together as a region by tradition

We in the Elbe-Weser triangle live in an area between the Lower and Outer Weser on the one hand and the mouth of the Elbe and the Lower Elbe on the other. Geographically, parts of the states of Bremen and Hamburg also belong to it. Historically and politically, it roughly corresponds to the former territories of Bremen and Verden, which were combined after the Thirty Years' War to form the Imperial Territory of Bremen-Verden under Swedish rule, with Stade as its administrative seat, which later became the former administrative district of Stade.

The roots of our success: united and together as a region by tradition

625 years ago, on 6 December 1397, the first documented assembly of Estates took place in the middle of the Elbe-Weser triangle, more precisely "up den Steengraven" in in today's district of Rotenburg/Wümme.

Archbishop Otto II of Bremen on the one hand and on the other hand the provost, dean and chapter of the cathedral of Bremen as well as the prelates, the knighthood, the towns and the provincial communities of the archdiocese of Bremen concluded a treaty with each other - initially for eight years - in which the partners undertook to mutually protect all their rights.

The contractually agreed preservation of rights, freedoms and privileges on the one hand, and the appointment of arbitrators to settle disputes on the other, made this contract just as special as the fact that for the first time only participants from the Bremen archdiocese - and not also those from other regions - entered into a contractual commitment. At the same time, all the forces of the archdiocese capable of acting politically entered into an "official" treaty of far-reaching, fundamental significance, which focused on the archdiocese as a whole and was binding for all. Thus, for the first time, the archbishop's contracting parties did not act alone, but as representatives of the whole country.

This agreement of 1397 thus appears today as a fundamental document for the formation of the Estates in the area of the sovereignty of the Archbishop of Bremen. It could thus also be described as the birth certificate of the estates in the Elbe-Weser region and thus of the landscape of the duchies of Bremen and Verden.

From 1397 onwards, the estates ("Landschaften") met regularly in Basdahl to make political decisions together, to discuss general affairs of the land and to pass fundamental judgements. From then on, they represented their political and economic interests "from the saddle", so to speak, and thus consolidated the cohesion of the region.

Successfully continuing the tradition - the Landschaften

In the area of the former , the centuries-old institutions of the Landschaften have been preserved - as a unique feature in Germany - which were formed in the late Middle Ages as representations of the estates vis-à-vis the sovereign. For over 600 years, the Landschaft der Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden has embodied the regional identity of the Elbe-Weser triangle within the framework of the Landschaftsverband Stade and on behalf of the state of Lower Saxony. Today it is a public corporation consisting of three curiae:

• First Curia: Bremen and Verden Knighthood - owners of the matriculated estates

• Second Curia: ten deputies of the cities, towns and municipalities, each represented by the mayors

• Third Curia: 13 deputies of the peasant landowners elected by the district councils of the five counties of the Landschaft.

The chairman of the first curia, which always has the majority, is the president of the Landschaft. The institutions are the Landtag, which meets annually and decides on the tasks and the budget, and the committee as a permanently working board. These bodies continue to meet in full function to this day.

After the conquest of the monasteries of Bremen and Verden in 1645 in the course of the Thirty Years' War, the entire region was under Swedish rule until 1712. After that, the area of the Elbe-Weser triangle belonged to for a short time. Then in 1715 it fell by purchase to Electoral Hanover, later the Kingdom of Hanover. During the Napoleonic era at the beginning of the 19th century, the Elbe-Weser Triangle was briefly annexed to the French Empire. Among other things, the Landdrostei Stade was created from this area in 1823, to which the Land was added. In 1866, after the Kingdom of Hanover was (illegally) annexed by , the administrative district of Stade was established.

As a look at our history shows, it has always been decisive for our Elbe-Weser region that it has always remained united. What began at the end of the High Middle Ages with loose structures, solidified beginning in the 14th century into regularly recurring meetings of the later Landstände for the purpose of political cooperation. Despite changing rulers and some border shifts (in Bremen and through the Greater Hamburg Act), the duchies of Bremen-Verden and the administrative district of Stade formed an administrative unit successively under Swedish, Danish, Hanoverian and Prussian rule and finally even after 1945. In 1978, the administrative district of Stade was added to the neighbouring administrative district of Lüneburg, which in turn was dissolved in 2005. Our strength: The Elbe-Weser triangle has always remained together as a whole throughout history. And that is still the case today.

In this way, we are shaped by centuries of shared history, which creates a strong identity close to home. Independent traditions have grown up in the land between the Elbe and the Weser, and they still connect the Elbe-Weser triangle today. Tradition creates identity, identity creates affiliation and solidarity. The CDU as the Elbe-Weser party has always been connected to this region and is aware of this cultural-political heritage and will continue to promote it in the future - always united together as a region of tradition!

This is the foundation of our self-image.