Germany urgently needs a different economic policy

SOURCE: DW- AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS

"The relocation of plants abroad has already begun. And when large companies move their plant, small companies and suppliers also suffer damage or close their doors. This is the declaration of bankruptcy for the economic space of Germany," sums up the president of the Association of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade and Services (BGA), Dirk Jandura for the Reuters agency. First of all, energy-intensive industrial sectors do not see any future in Germany, but what is the concept for the German industry: chemical, metal processing, and mechanical engineering. "The costs here are simply too high," Jandura believes.

And the president of the Association of Family Businesses, Marie-Christine Ostermann, is fed up with this kind of economic policy: "If the economic framework is not changed immediately after the election, even more companies will go abroad." She is personally at the head of a hospital supply service company founded by her grandfather, but first of all he points out the problems of companies in the processing industry and where it is needed, in Germany too expensive energy for production worse results in companies that are dependent on consumption.

How to grow, when less and less is invested?

For the president of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHT) Peter Adrian, this country has reached a moment of crisis of the entire economic structure. "In recent years, local companies have had to endure too many new burdens and state interventions," the president of the Chamber believes. "To that extent, their confidence in the economic space of Germany is at the very bottom." This is best seen in the investments of companies in this country: the pandemic has long since passed, but investments this year were still 6% below the level before the corona - the trend is even less investment.

According to a survey conducted by the Chamber among its members, a third of companies plan to reduce their investments. "These are not good perspectives for economic growth," warns Adrian. Because it is not the state, but the economy that primarily drives almost 90% of investments. Germany is already at the very bottom of economic growth in Europe, and with zero percent growth in 2025, he expects DIHT - for the third year in a row. "It is a period of dry years in the economy that has never been seen before in the Federal Republic of Germany," Adrian believes. He is convinced that only a different economic policy in Berlin can bring this country back to growth rates.

Infrastructure from the past

The economic policy of the state is first and foremost crucial for infrastructure, so the IT sector association, Bitkom, is calling for a different policy and targeted measures in order to encourage investments and keep companies in this country. The president of that association, Ralf Wintergerst, warns that they are also affected by the price of electricity - the accounting centers consume a lot of electricity, but the problem is also the experts and the "paper mentality" of this country: there is still no possibility for legal entities to have a digital identity. And the entire digital the infrastructure in this country needs serious investments in order to even keep up with many countries in Europe that have gone much further.

The president of the wholesale trade association also reminds of other, especially transport infrastructure. While discussions about alternative forms of mobility continue, the roads are deteriorating and full of construction sites and the resulting traffic jams. And in addition, there is the deplorable state of bridges in Germany where "every truck driver feels uncomfortable" when he has to cross them, warns Jandura. "Our infrastructure is not the infrastructure of the future, but the infrastructure of the past."