The Hartz IV (or unemployment benefit/ALG II) was introduced on January 1, 2005. Sixteen years later, the SPD no longer mentions any of these terms in its electoral platform. While The Left and the Greens want to repeal Hartz IV and instead introduce a basic income, the SPD proposes the development of a "citizen's allowance" that should allow "a life with dignity and social participation." All three parties want to abolish sanctions and extend unemployment insurance to the self-employed.
Climate change, the environment and sustainability could be the leading issues in the 2021 elections. In 2019, the majority of the German population saw it as the most important issue for the first time (Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 2021). Due to its Whatsapp Mobile Number List, the covid-19 pandemic indirectly reduced the attention that politicians, the media and citizens paid to the issue, and also reduced the mobilization capacity of proclimate movements such as Fridays for Future, which were very successful. in Germany in 2019. But the issue came back with a vengeance in the 2021 election campaign, backed by the Federal.
Court of Justice's March 29, 2021 decision obliging the government to speed up its environmental efforts to avoid drastic problems for generations future. The main nuclei of the topic are energy generation (renewable versus fossil), transportation (cars and flights versus public transport, bicycles, etc.), sustainability, biodiversity and nature conservation, more general solutions to the carbon dioxide problem and compliance with international treaties. An important national issue related to climate change and power generation is coal, as it has a long tradition in Germany and its industry is located in economically lagging regions both in the west and in the east of the country.