Not extreme politicians or parties, but the chemical industry warns against “de-industrialization” in Germany. Will Economics Minister Habeck oppose this? Will he take on anything?
Habeck and deindustrialization – to date, politicians have overlooked this process
“The Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI) has warned of the industry moving away from Germany. “We are observing a creeping deindustrialization,” said VCI general manager Wolfgang Große Entrup to the partner newspapers of the “Neue Berliner Redaktionsgesellschaft” (Saturday editions).
Although companies are still investing to maintain their systems, new investments are no longer taking place. “Our industry is currently finding it very difficult to believe in a future for Germany as a location, there is a lack of international competitiveness,” says Große Entrup. The association manager warned against letting the companies go: “If we start giving up the beginning of the value chain, then the automotive industry and others will follow at some point.” The main reason for the difficult situation is the high energy prices.
The industry is therefore demanding a reduced industrial electricity price. “If you compare what we lose economically if only five to ten percent of our industry migrates, then the industrial electricity price is a must-have,” said Große Entrup. Accordingly, the chemical industry employs 500,000 people who earn an average of 65,000 euros and pay taxes of 20.5 billion euros. According to calculations by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), the industrial electricity price costs around 4.5 billion a year.
The bureaucracy is also a competitive disadvantage. In fact, more funding is available in the EU than in the USA. “But no one can get the money from Brussels. If you need processes lasting two to five years and thousands of pages to apply for a single project, then nobody will do it,” says Große Entrup.
According to him, the EU’s “Green Deal” would mean that companies would have to deal with around 14,000 more pages of regulation in the coming years, which is why he is calling for fewer requirements. “We have to cut a path through all this bureaucracy madness.”
Report with material from the dts news agency
Photo: Ruhr area, via dts news agency