Nachrichten – Erasmus Stiftung

Political education

Confidence in the vote of confidence?

Naturally, the Chancellor plays a central role in our country's political system. He is the one who can appoint and dismiss ministers. We saw the latter happen recently when Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, heralding the end of the traffic light coalition. The Chancellor is also the one who, in the event of a negative outcome of a vote of confidence, can propose to the Federal President that the Bundestag be dissolved. No one else has this right.

Chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany have called for a vote of confidence five times to date. The first time was in 1966, when the SPD parliamentary group submitted a „request for a vote of confidence“. However, the then Chancellor Ludwig Erhard rejected the request. Since then, no further requests for a vote of confidence have been made.

16 December 2024

online lecture

The state and taxes. A libertarian position.

Web seminar on Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 6–8 p.m.

National budgets are under pressure. A large proportion of expenditure is attributable to an ever-growing state apparatus.
Could Germany and Saxony be saved by a libertarian political approach?
And what might such an approach look like?
What would the departure of Germany, a net contributor to the EU, mean?

15th November 2024

online lecture

All that is right. Can migrants be turned away at the German borders?

Web seminar on Thursday, 12 December 2024, 6–8 p.m.

The question of whether migrants can be turned away at Germany's borders has entered the general political discourse. The issue is being hotly debated, particularly in the Free State of Saxony, but also in other federal states. The debate ranges from the question of whether Germany's borders within the EU are actually borders at all to the question of what role EU law plays and should play in relation to German law.

8 November 2024

Political education

Volkswagen and the Gordian knot – Part 2

It was just six weeks ago that we published an article with the same headline here. In it, we described the extremely difficult situation in which the VW Group currently finds itself. Perhaps some readers smiled at the strong words we used to describe the current dilemma facing Germany's largest car manufacturer. Since the beginning of this week at the latest, it should be clear to everyone that our analysis was, unfortunately, spot on. While the latest statements from the group's management were still rather vague, the supervisory board and the IG Metall trade union have now made their position clear and outlined the true extent of the impending scrapping of the group.

29 October 2024

Current issues

The drama surrounding the time change continues

On the night of Sunday, 27 October, the clocks will once again be set back one hour – for the 44th time since 1980, when this nonsense began. Once again, people with sensitive sleep patterns will have problems, once again parents will have unbalanced children, once again farmers will have problems with restless animals. It will take weeks for the cows to get used to the new milking times. Statisticians will once again record increased accident figures, and most of the 440 million EU citizens will once again wonder when the nightmare of daylight saving time will finally end. But it will not end. At least not in the foreseeable future.

22 October 2024

Political education

Breaking news: Germany will become climate neutral after all

Things could soon become quieter in the skies above Germany. Following Ryanair, Eurowings – Germany's second-largest airline – has also announced that it will be thinning out its local route network from 2025. Ryanair plans to stop flying to Dortmund, Dresden and Leipzig airports altogether and cancel 60% of its flights to and from Hamburg. A total of 1.8 million seats are expected to be affected. Eurowings is now cancelling 1,000 flights to and from Hamburg „as a first step“, including the route to Cologne/Bonn, which is popular with business customers.

12 October 2024

Political education

Goodbye eagle – hello vulture!

„Made in Germany“ once meant something in the world. Originally introduced in Great Britain at the end of the 19th century as protection against supposedly cheap and inferior imports from Germany, the designation of origin was considered the epitome of German craftsmanship for decades. Goods from Germany were highly valued worldwide for their quality and durability. But the former trademark is cracking; there is a worm in it: in the truest sense of the word, Made in Germany.

One industry after another is hitting a brick wall. A „toxic cocktail“ of poor conditions is causing more and more industrial companies to leave Germany or close down altogether. High energy costs, exorbitant electricity prices, CO2 pricing, excessive bureaucracy, supply chain legislation, a shortage of skilled workers, dilapidated infrastructure, compulsory memberships, fantasies of a four-day week – the catalogue of horrors for companies is getting longer and longer.

5 October 2024

Political education

Volkswagen and the Gordian knot

Continental, Tesla, automotive supplier ZF, Miele, SAP, Vaillant, Samsung, Schenker. Reports of thousands of job cuts at major industrial companies in Germany continue unabated. Entire sites are even being relocated abroad. Why is this happening? What is going wrong in this country? If you want to find out, join us on a virtual journey. Imagine you are the CEO of the Volkswagen Group. No, we don't want to question Oliver Blume, the current CEO of Volkswagen AG. This is purely a thought experiment. And we have chosen an automotive group because everyone knows and understands the product: the car. Most people have one or more at home.

15 September 2024