Education - Lusatian municipalities in the Bundestag committee
In order for structural change in Lusatia to succeed, local authorities believe that more emphasis must be placed on promoting education, culture and leisure. In addition, representatives of the Lusatia Round Alliance made it clear at a hearing in the Bundestag's Economic Affairs Committee on Wednesday that federal funding that has not yet been disbursed must be made more flexible due to delays in projects.
One of the reasons for the hearing was a motion by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, which had asked the Lusatian representatives for an assessment of the structural development.
Soft location factors important for immigration
In future, more emphasis must be placed on the so-called soft location factors in order to attract urgently needed skilled workers to the region and make it more attractive, explained Spremberg Mayor Christine Herntier (non-party) and Guben Mayor Fred Mahro (CDU) on behalf of the 56 municipalities in Lusatia. "The issue of education has to go up significantly - otherwise there will be no influx," Herntier told the German Press Agency. She would like to see a legal change that would allow structural funds to be used for educational infrastructure.
According to a study published in the summer by the Leibnitz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics, the shortage of skilled workers will hamper economic growth in the Brandenburg part of Lusatia in the coming years.
Flexible organization of the timing of funding payments
Herntier and Mahro also emphasized the need for flexibility in the disbursement of funding that has not yet been disbursed after the end of the first funding period in 2026. The federal arm of the structural funds for the coal phase-out has already been exhausted - 15 years before the end of the structural change process. In the first funding arm of the state of Brandenburg, only one billion euros will be available for the next 15 years. According to the information provided, around 99 percent of the planned federal funding for structural change of around 6.7 billion euros has been earmarked.
As the funds have already been exhausted in the first funding period and follow-up funding beyond 2026 is uncertain for projects submitted now, planned projects are currently on hold, the Lusatian representatives told the committee. This is counterproductive. The implementation of some funded projects is taking longer than expected, reported Herntier. "It is therefore essential to prevent the forfeiture of unclaimed funding."
With regard to transport infrastructure, the mayors of Lusatia are calling for the necessary acceleration of long-overdue rail and road construction projects and once again warned of the lack of reliable connections to cities such as Berlin and Dresden. The "deplorable" rail connections in Lusatia are also a "huge stumbling block" when it comes to attracting skilled workers, said Herntier.
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Source: www.stern.de
