Most Germans regard state as overburdened, climate and energy slip in priority list – survey

Most citizens surveyed by Germany’s civil servant union (DBB) believe the state is overburdened and incapable of achieving effective results in key policy areas. Climate action and renewable energy have dropped down the list of priorities for many people compared to previous years, with social justice, infrastructure, digitalization and the strengthening of Germany’s military seen as more important, the DBB added. In the survey, 70 percent of respondents said the state struggles to fulfil its role as a guarantor of stability, while a quarter said it can. Migration and asylum policy are particularly seen as areas where the state is hitting a ceiling in its ability to enact changes. “Respondents clearly distinguished between state institutions and civil servants” in their replies, the DBB underlined.

The results confirmed a trend that has been observed for several years, said DBB head Ulrich Silberbach. “What is really shocking to me, however, is that 77 percent of people in eastern Germany, 90 percent of (far-right opposition party) AfD voters and 85 percent of (pro-business government coalition party) FDP voters consider our state to be overburdened – and that I don’t get the impression that those who are responsible draw the right conclusions from this,” Silberbach said. He argued Germany does not need new special envoys or working groups, but “effective investment and modernisation programmes” for education and internal security as well as “a fundamentally new approach in migration policy”, guided by greater control and more targeted support.