"Charging must be as easy as refueling"

Rarely have the major issues of the future been dealt with as intensively in daily politics as in these times. The starting point of the four-part series of the WELT future debate could not have been better chosen. WELT and the New Social Market Economy Initiative invited to the kick-off event on Tuesday in Berlin. Thomas Exner, Managing Editor at WELT, welcomed the Federal Minister for Digital and Transport Volker Wissing (FDP) as the first guest.

The third relief package presented on Sunday now also provides for a connection solution for the nine-euro ticket, which is popular with the population. He was one of the first to believe that the ticket would be a success, the minister proudly looks back on.

1.8 million tons of CO₂ have been saved within three months - and local public transport has received a lot of attention as a result. But you won't be able to keep the attractive price: "Everyone knows that it can't be that low in the long run."

Instead, Wissing wants to stick to a flat rate for the "Germany tariff". "We have federal states that offer more than 60 different monthly ticket variants," states the minister. These grown structures would not help people.

"In Germany, we have costs of two billion euros to sell public transport tickets," calculates the minister. Instead, the money could be invested in better infrastructure and more effective clocking. However, the federal government could not initiate this project without the support of the federal states. The 1.5 billion euros of the third relief package now earmarked for this should therefore be made available equally for transport investments and the ticket.

Moderator Exner pointed out that city dwellers in particular, who would already use public transport more, would have benefited from the nine-euro ticket. When asked how local transport in rural areas could be better promoted, Wissing replied that journeys should not only be thought of as one means of transport from A to B.

Instead, transport hubs are to be promoted throughout the country. These stations should be easily accessible and should offer parking facilities for bicycles and cars alike. Public transport or private transport? "We need both," says Wissing, adding: "We live in a time when mobility will change fundamentally."

In principle, there should be a greater shift in traffic to rail. But electromobility also plays an important role. On the one hand, the federal government is promoting the purchase of electric city buses in the municipalities. On the other hand, Wissing also wants to make electric cars more attractive for drivers. He rejects direct subsidies because the danger is too great that manufacturers will integrate such premiums into their prices.

Instead, it should be made as easy as possible for the owners with infrastructure: "Charging must be as easy as filling up." The plan is to set up charging facilities where they are needed. The need is precisely recorded by mobility data. Wissing wants to pick up the pace: "We now have to increase the charging infrastructure exponentially." With the approaching end of combustion engines at EU level, a European solution to the question of charging stations must also be found.

As another major future challenge, the second part of the debate revolved around the topic of digitization. In its gigabit strategy, Wissing plans, among other things, to place the country in the "Top 10" digitally by 2025 in an international comparison. To this end, the number of fiber optic connections should triple by the target year.

With a dig at the previous government, however, Wissing warned against painting overly colorful visions of the future when it comes to digitization. Instead of dreaming of waving at each other from the air taxi one day, it is important to develop the concrete possibilities for this now. "Opening up spaces" is what the minister calls it.

The key to this should be three basic strategies: the development of a "digital identity", data availability and standardization of the data - so that they are compatible with each other. It is only possible with a digital identity to carry out virtual administrative procedures. The minister admitted at the end of the conversation that he had not yet used the digital function of his own digital identity card.

The WELT future debate is intended to show guidelines for future politics and make them even more transparent for the economy and provide impetus for an exchange between the actors. INSM spokesman Florian von Hennet named decarbonization, demographic change and digitization as the major challenges that Germany and the world are currently facing. "We are convinced that the social market economy also has the right answers ready for these challenges," said von Hennet. In order to find a compass and the right answers to the many questions, dialogue is particularly important.

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