“This is what I stand for as Federal Chancellor”

In an hour-long session on Wednesday, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz answered questions from the members of the German Bundestag. In his opening speech before government question time, he stated that people in Germany were living in "grave times" and stressed the importance of security, growth and cohesion for Germany, before answering the questions of the members of parliament.

This is what the Federal Chancellor had to say about...

• The budget: The budget is to be adopted by the Federal Cabinet in July as planned. Following the summer break, it can be debated in the Bundestag.
• The economy: The Federal Government has laid the foundations for economic growth and there is growth potential everywhere: in the pharmaceuticals industry, AI and quantum computing. The Federal Government is now working on a plan for turbo-charging growth.
• Security: Germany will not become a war party on the Ukrainian side in Russia's war of aggression, and NATO's two-percent goal for defence spending will be met, also in future.
• Immigration of skilled workers: The new Skilled Labour Immigration Act allows people to directly join the German labour market and areas of business in which there is a labour shortage. The Federal and Länder Governments are currently modernising and digitising the corresponding procedures.
• Crime: Those who commit crimes in Germany have to expect to face the full force of the law, and coming from a different culture is no excuse for wrongdoing. It is the duty of each individual to observe Germany's laws and values.
• Housing: Measures are already in place to provide 18 billion euros for subsidised housing and the legislative project to establish a rent cap is underway. It is also essential to promote construction activity on a large scale.
• Social insurance contributions: The number of members of the working population has to be kept high in Germany, to be able to stabilise social insurance contributions.

You can see the video of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz' opening statement here:

Three times a year - in the last week of sessions before Easter, the summer break and Christmas - the Federal Chancellor takes part in a plenary government question time session of the German Bundestag. Each government question time session starts with a short statement delivered by the Federal Chancellor. He then answers questions from members of parliament for about an hour.

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