Unterhofkirchen - Christine Singer, the Free Voters' top candidate for the European elections, is taking part in the discussion in Unterhofkirchen.
Europe has a mediation problem. Brussels is far away, but the EU determines our daily lives with its regulations. Conservative voters also had an annoying experience in 2019, as the current top candidate for the Free Voters can report from a number of conversations. “I often hear the frustration from the last election. People say: I voted for Weber, but I got von der Leyen,” said Christine Singer on Monday evening in the Alte Schule community center in Unterhofkirchen. All of this doesn't make it easy for election campaigners like her.
Almost 40 visitors were interested in Singer's positions. Half of them - a large table away from the Free Voters - were farmers, a few of them CSU local politicians. They were curious about Singer for a different reason. The 58-year-old from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district has been a district farmer for the Bavarian Farmers' Association since 2012 and has even been a state farmer for two years.
Accordingly, she could also have a placement problem. This can be seen in Matthias Lohmeier's question: "If you come to Brussels, will you work for the farmers' association or for the Free Voters?" he asks the BBV woman. The dairy farmer from Taggrub (municipality of Dorfen) is an official at the Association of German Dairy Farmers (BDM), an organization that often represents different views than the BBV. Specifically, he was concerned with the controversial Article 148 of the EU's common market organization for milk. “The Free Voters support our positions, if Hubert Aiwanger can be believed. Not the BBV,” said the BDM man. “If I am elected, I will be for the citizens of Brussels,” countered Singer, whose chances as the top candidate should not be bad.
The farmers in the room held technical debates about tethering, funding for stable conversions and red nitrate areas. The Taufkirchen farmer and FW local councilor Korbinian Empl insisted on self-sufficiency not only with regard to agricultural products. We also had bad experiences with medication and microchips during the Corona period.
FW district chairman Sven Krage was also able to have a say here. The Free Voters stand for this. He warned: “We consumers also have to be prepared to pay the price and not just buy cheap goods from the Far East.”
In his welcome, Krage referred to the “landmark democratic election” on June 9th. “I think a Dexit, i.e. Germany’s exit from the EU, as demanded by right-wing groups in this country, is completely wrong,” agreed 3rd District Administrator Rainer Mehringer. The empty supermarket shelves in Great Britain after Brexit would have underlined this.
Mehringer praised Singer as “one of us” who was involved as a local councilor and district councilor and is now involved in the BBV. She is a complete newcomer to European politics. “I didn’t study and I don’t know English perfectly,” she admitted. But she is a good networker. With her background - growing up in a working-class household, working in a bank, marrying into a farm - she wanted to give people from the grassroots a voice.
“The thing that concerns us most is the Green Deal,” explained the election campaigner about the sustainability program of the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen, who got this post instead of Weber in 2019. “I understand the concerns of our young people, I even understand the climate glue,” said Singer. But for young people, the only thing that is important is the climate goal, she said during a visit to a school. In some cases there is no awareness that the economy and jobs are important. “That really shocked me.” She is skeptical about the right to vote from the age of 16, which is now being applied in the European elections.
The value of work then also determined the debate in the room. “You have to show young people that skilled trades training does have a future,” explained Krage.
Singer also mentioned migration as a crucial issue. Too many people are coming to Europe. That is why the asylum compromise now decided at EU level is a step in the right direction.