CSU wants more ‘Bavaria in Europe’, sets EU campaign rolling

At a party conference in Munich on Saturday (25 January), Markus Ferber received 98.3% of delegate votes from the Bavarian CSU, a small party closely aligned with Merkel’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU).

At the event, CSU party leader Horst Seehofer spoke of a good foundation for his party in the coming 2014 election year.

The CSU could win up to 50% of votes in Bavaria for the upcoming European elections, according to a survey conducted by Bavarian television broadcaster BR.

“This approval speaks well for our objectives and our people,” Seehofer said.

A few weeks ago the party stirred controversy in Germany by advocating tighter regulation against “poverty immigration” from the EU’s poorer member states. It was a bold move from the smaller conservative party, which faced opposition from both larger coalition partners in the CDU and the Social Democrats.

“We, as the CSU, are a party of Europe. The European idea benefits the people,” he said. But the excessive European bureaucracy, that gets mixed up in all the trivialities at a local scale, has moved people, the CSU leader said.

“And there, they are depending on us to roll things back.”

Ferber, the CSU’s new top candidate, emphasised that the European elections were about determining which direction Europe would take in the future. “We want a Europe that is big on big issues but lean on small issues.”

The CSU stands for a strong Europe of the regions; one that is aware of its Christian roots and knows its boundaries – both geographically and politically, Ferber said.

Too many commissioners in Brussels

If European commissioners have time to deal with issues like olive oil dispensers or vacuum cleaners, “then apparently we have too many of them”, said Ferber.

“We want a considerable reduction in the number of commissioners. It is not only about the leadership, it also concerns the entire administrative apparatus,” the CSU candidate said.

Secretary General of the CSU Andreas Scheuer said the CSU was the only party that could represent Bavarian interests on all levels.

“The European elections are about showing how strong Bavaria is in Europe.” There is only one alternative that stands between enthusiasm and rejection of Europe, and that is the CSU,” Scheuer said.

“We are convinced Europeans, that’s why we want a better Europe with a sense of reason and proportion. We want as much Bavaria in Europe as possible,” the secretary general emphasised.

British-German candidate from the CDU

Meanwhile, Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democrats are expected to nominate their top candidate, the former prime minister of Lower Saxony David McAllister, at an executive meeting in early February.

McAllister (43), a British-German dual-citizen, is the first politician with two nationalities to become prime minister in one of Germany’s Länder. After failing to win re-election in Lower Saxony’s regional race for prime minister last year, McAllister accepted the CDU’s nomination to be its top candidate in the upcoming 2014 elections. 

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