If Reinhold von Eben-Worlée achieves his goals, Germany will soon have its first three-party alliance – and it will work.
Maybe it is dream of a bomb. But Eben-Worlée, a leading 170-year-old retailer, believes Germany today has the opportunity to turn gears after its two main parties closed for eight years into a “big deal” for chancellor Angela Merkel, who has said it has failed to address the country’s crisis. .
Commenting on the views of the 12 business leaders interviewed by the Financial Times, Eben-Worlée is credited with being a Greens and a liberal Democrats – known as newcomers makers of political emperors – have lost their diversity in debt and taxes, and have come up with a platform that will empower them along with one of the two major parties.
“New news is coming to the table where the big deal lies,” said Eben-Worlée, who is also President. Merchant traders, a family business representative organization. He stressed that the next government “hopefully” should see the economy as a partner, not as an opponent and not a student “.
All German officials told FT they were glad the left and right parties had not progressed.
“I am glad that the voters have strengthened the political landscape and weakened the political parties on all fronts,” said Carsten Knobel, chief of Henkel, the manufacturer of Persil washing water with Loctite glue.
Others also heard release see behind the main alliance, which was linked to the Christian Democrats between Merkel and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and to the left between the Social Democrats.
However, he was concerned that unlikely elections could lead to disunity, perhaps under the auspices of the SDP. Olaf Scholz, which is failing to address the challenges Merkel left behind after years of steady government business, especially the two challenges of climate change and digital.
“Germany’s economic future is at stake,” said Allianz chief executive Oliver Bäte, calling for “real change” that combines digital technology with decarbonisation.
What has happened in Germany recently in the experiment three-party organizations and inauspicious. In 2017, many business leaders criticized FDP boss Christian Lindner for coming out of the negotiating talks with CDU / CSU and Greens.
At the time, Ingo Kramer, President of the Confederation of Germany Employers’ Associations, called Lindner’s actions “disgraceful” and criticized the generous leader for failing to “seize national responsibility”.
Today, however, CEOs are confident that entrepreneurs who are doing business will play a key role in tax cuts and spending on the remnants of the Greens and Social Democrats, as well as help take action to address the changing climate.
“I hope the Greens will lead the government in the right direction, while the liberals will just look at the free market,” said Henrik Follmann, the third generation of his family to run a well-known pharmaceutical group.
Even in the industrial area of Germany, there is strong support for the rapid transformation of new and modern economies.
Herbert Diess, Volkswagen’s chief car maker, puts it in the ID. 3, stated: ‘The only way to improve the quality of life’ © Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters
Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen, which is spending 35bn euros on electric vehicles, this week asked Germany to raise its CO2 price from 25 euros per tonne to € 65 per tonne by 2024. This is much higher than the Greens ‘ dedication at a CO2 price of € 60 eur by 2023.
“It’s the only thing that can advance the reforms of governments,” said Diess, who has been vocal in his opposition to German energy integration and called for an end to oil spills. Diess urged lawmakers to “bring about the end of coal”, which is being prepared for 2038.
Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy who owns a large oil business, looked the other way. Any increase in the price of CO2 should “find a balance between what our companies can do and what can lead to change”, he said.
“State-owned enterprises can be a single factor,” Bruch said. But companies also need “clear funding… To invest in sectors such as wind power and shipping”.
Mittelstand’s corporate executives, who form an industrial base in Germany, are particularly demanding more money for digital use: Broadband speeds in the country are relatively simple, and government agencies often connect with faxes.
On Wednesday, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry said 61% of 3,500 surveyed companies realized that digitization was very important.
Klaus Fischer, owner of Fischer Group, a manufacturer of wall plugs and automotive plug-ins near Stuttgart, said: “Germany as a business center has always lost interest.” “Citizens want to make changes in many areas, such as education, climate protection, or foreign policy. The CDU did not realize this and now receives its money. ”
Whether the stable and direct cooperation that German businesses hope for will come true, and then to be able to change all that, is still a question of a million euros. Apart from that, the country has never had such an agreement before.
Knenkel’s Henkel said: “It would not be difficult to ignore the discussion on their grounds, especially in determining the importance of climate work and ensuring that German companies are competitive.”
Stefan Wolf, CEO of ElringKlinger’s automotive weapons manufacturer, went on to say that he “would like to have only two parties that can make a deal”. He lamented “there are other dangers [of political instability] and we have seen this with other countries where they have these big organizations “.
Meanwhile, German politics has been “very helpful in stabilizing peace, but it is not good enough to take action”, warned Clemens Fuest, director of the Ifo Institute of Munich, which conducts a monthly monthly trade survey in the country.
Additional material by Erika Solomon in Berlin