Despite the turbulent economic situation, the German federal government did not seek additional contact with affected companies last year, according to a response to a small inquiry from the FDP faction in the Bundestag, reported by Welt am Sonntag.
The MPs wanted to know which ministerial and state secretary meetings had taken place with nine companies affected by job cuts in the past years. The list includes state-owned Deutsche Bahn, auto manufacturers Audi, Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla, as well as suppliers Continental and ZF Friedrichshafen and software giant SAP and Deutsche Bank.
The majority of contacts were made by the Ministry of Economics (142) since 2022, followed by the Chancellor’s Office (96). Despite the crisis, the number of meetings did not increase compared to previous years. A total of 82 meetings were recorded in 2024, 81 in 2023 and 89 in the first year of the government, 2022.
Notably, the number of meetings by Transportation Minister Volker Wissing (independent) and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) with the companies was surprisingly low. Wissing, according to the list, had no meetings with representatives of the other companies except for the CEO of Deutsche Bahn since taking office. Heil, according to the government’s response, met with Continental representatives five times and once with the Deutsche Bahn’s personnel director. No other meetings with managers or employee representatives were documented. The government did not provide information on the content of the meetings.
Anja Schulz, FDP’s finance politician and initiator of the inquiry, criticized the response as “disappointing and alarming at the same time”. The government, either lacked interest or control over central issues like energy prices, skilled labor shortages and bureaucracy, Schulz said. The Labor and Transportation ministries only showed a half-hearted interest in the companies. “This federal government is losing touch with the economy”Schulz said. “It is becoming increasingly clear that Hubertus Heil is a minister for redistributing social benefits, but not a minister for the hard-working middle of this country.