Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party on Saturday set their sights firmly on victory in the 2025 parliamentary elections.
“We are determined to win this Bundestag election in a year’s time,” CDU leader Friedrich Merz told a party conference of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in the Bavarian city of Augsburg.
Germany needs a government that is not hamstrung by in-fighting, Merz said in a shot at the deeply unpopular centre-left coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“We will lead a government in which the public disputes finally stop,” Merz told the delegates.
The next government must also regain trust in the reliability and consistency of politics, said Merz, who is aiming to become chancellor in next September’s election.
Merz said there was no dissonance within his conservative alliance. “We have found a new way of working together, in the CDU and CSU.”
The CDU leader prevailed against CSU leader and Bavarian state premier Markus Söder in an internal contest for the candidacy as German chancellor.
Söder declared on Friday that their common goal was to replace the coalition government, with personnel issues playing only a minor role.
On his arrival in Augsburg, Merz was greeted with frenetic applause from the CSU party conference delegates.
CSU to campaign on asylum cap, military draft
The CDU/CSU bloc is aiming to oust Germany’s current coalition government, made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), in the federal election on September 28, 2025.
While the CSU has governed Bavaria – either alone or in coalition – since 1957, the CDU/CSU bloc has been repeatedly challenged for the national leadership by Scholz’s SPD, including in the last election in 2021.
However, polls suggest that the conservative bloc is well-placed to come first in next year’s vote.
Much of its support could come from voters who, while being opposed to the current levels of immigration, are unwilling to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Looking to lure disillusione voters away from the AfD and other anti-immigration parties, the CSU on Saturday adopted a raft of hot-button issues for its electoral platform, including a limit of well under 100,000 asylum applications per year and a fundamental reform of asylum law.
Last year, more than 300,000 asylum applications were registered in Germany.
“The security of citizens and the end of illegal migration must be the top priority for the federal government,” a party motion stated.
“Our hospitality must not be exploited and become a breeding ground for imported conflicts, violence, organized crime and hatred against our way of life.”
In some German cities, people “sometimes no longer feel at home,” it continued, warning that “the influx is too much and can no longer be managed.”
Separately, the CSU will also campaign for the reintroduction of compulsory military service, the creation of a “drone army” and a “cyber brigade” for the military, as well as an increase in defence spending to 3% of GDP, well above the country’s current 2% target.
The party is also seeking a “genuine economic turnaround,” calling for tax cuts and further relief as well as a comprehensive reduction in bureaucracy.
Rejecting a four-day week, the CSU is looking to make overtime tax-free, increase the commuter allowance and replace the maximum daily working hours with a maximum weekly working time.
Merz addresses global challenges
In his speech on Saturday, Merz also addressed the global issues likely to dominate the agenda if he does succeed in becoming chancellor, pledging to strengthen Germany’s role within the European Union.
“We will become more involved in Europe again in the future,” he promised.
A rise in protectionism among global economic players such as China and the United States is forcing Europe to collaborate even more closely, but also to become more competitive, Merz argued.
“Together, we are facing the challenges that are now arising from protectionism,” he said. “We are not alone in the world, but the world is waiting for us, for our contribution.”
Future economic cooperation with the US will grow in complexity, the CDU candidate said, regardless of who wins the presidential election in November.
If Democratic candidate Kamala Harris wins on November 5, relations could be a little “friendlier” than in the case of former president Donald Trump’s return to the White House. However, the end result would be “the same,” Merz suggested.
Germany should prepare for the fact that any new US administration will focus far more on the Asia-Pacific region economically than on trans-Atlantic ties, he argued, in a shift first precipitated by Democrat Barack Obama’s presidency.
He further suggested that incumbent US President Joe Biden could be the “last president in the White House who is more economically focussed on the trans-Atlantic region.”
