The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has called on the country’s economic players to “fight for the industry” in light of the crisis triggered by vehicle manufacturers, particularly in response to Volkswagen’s—Germany’s largest private employer—threat to close plants in the country.
High energy costs, weak global demand, and the paradigm shift facing the European industry from Chinese companies are posing, according to the German leader, existential questions for Germany’s industrial and export-oriented economic model.
“We in Germany must above all fight for the industry,” Scholz stated in a speech before the German Parliament, adding that a key issue for his government today is figuring out “how to ensure cheap energy.”
Germany agreed a year ago to reduce the electricity tax to the minimum legal level allowed for European manufacturing, as well as to increase and extend for five years the compensation received by 350 companies competing in international markets, whose industries face a higher risk of relocation.
However, none of these measures have had the desired effect.
At the same time, Scholz has criticised Brussels for the slow progress in finalising negotiated free trade agreements, ensuring that they are not left at the mercy of the interests of a single country, referring implicitly to France’s blocking of an agreement with Mercosur.
“We have not handed over our competence in trade policy to Europe to ensure that no more trade agreements are signed,” he stated.
Furthermore, the Chancellor has taken issue with the European Commission’s decision to impose tariffs on the import of Chinese electric cars, asserting that 17 other member states were sceptical, as were all the executives from car manufacturers who have communicated their demands to him.
“My request is that we reach an agreement between China and the European Union,” he concluded.
Read more: Call to CPOs: eMobility sector demands “reliability and maintenance” at charging points
