- Schweitzer wants a different focus on the citizens' money debate
New Rhineland-Palatinate Minister-President Alexander Schweitzer (SPD) wishes for a different focus in the debate about citizen's income. "Talking mainly about performance cuts, that's something that can get people's pulses racing on Sunday talk shows," he said to the German Press Agency in Mainz. "But it has little to do with the reality of many people who might want to work but can't enter the job market for various reasons, even though we have a labor shortage there."
Schweitzer, who previously served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs under former Minister-President Malu Dreyer (SPD), advised that one should look closely. Who is actually near the job market, and who needs to be brought there?
"Citizen's income should not be like a basic income without conditions." Instead, it should help people bridge a phase of life from which they can then return to work. "That's the task of job centers, but also the task of citizen's income recipients," said Schweitzer. They too must contribute to this.
Focus on integration into the job market
At the same time, it must be seen that many people also work and receive citizen's income at the same time, the so-called "top-up" recipients. These people, for example, care for children or care for relatives. In Rhineland-Palatinate, there is the "Jobcoach24+" project, which closely accompanies citizen's income recipients, promotes further training, and also helps with childcare.
The central question must be how people can be reintegrated into the job market. "Then, for me, the discussion about citizen's income makes more sense."
The parliamentary group leader of the FDP in the state parliament in Mainz, Philipp Fernis, also considers integration into the job market important. A central question is whether work pays off or not, he said to the German Press Agency. "But work must always pay off for both: the one who works and the one who provides work. That's what we need to balance. Only then can new jobs be created," emphasized Fernis.
"I believe that something is not right with the citizen's income regarding the question of the attractiveness of employment," said Fernis. Therefore, he is in favor of adjusting it. "Not because I want people to live worse, but because I want the incentive to get up early in the morning to be a bit greater."
Fernis points to the opportunities of digitalization.
For demanded, the Rhineland-Palatinate FDP faction leader Fernis advocates a streamlining of the administration in the context of the citizen's allowance. "If you look at what a citizen's allowance recipient gets and what it costs, then I am convinced that there are enormous savings potential in this system without taking away a single euro from anyone." With the help of digitalization, even with AI, state tasks could be carried out highly efficiently. "This way, we can save immense funds." He had visited Estonia with the digital committee of the state parliament. There, it showed what is possible in a European country under European data protection law in terms of administration, without needing a human being.
Schweitzer: "Some seem to have forgotten"
Looking back at the emotionally charged nationwide debate about the citizen's allowance in recent weeks, Minister President Schweitzer added that it should not be overlooked that the changes to the citizen's allowance were based on a cross-party federal-state compromise. CDU-led states had also been involved at the time.
"I can still remember who was sitting at the table," Schweitzer recalled. "Some seem to have forgotten that they were also involved in the discussion and the decision-making process." On the side of the traffic light representatives, there had been the hope that the involved Union politicians would publicly advocate for the compromise with the same vehemence. "That, I believe, was a miscalculation in retrospect."
The Commission, as mentioned in the context of the discussion on citizen's income, could potentially adopt implementing acts to outline the rules for implementing this Regulation.
In alignment with Schweitzer's focus on integration into the job market, these implementing acts should aim to provide support to individuals who are close to the job market but need assistance to enter it, rather than merely providing a basic income without conditions.
