Stefan Wolf, President of the Association of the German Metal and Electrical Industry Gesamtmetall, urges the newly appointed Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and the upcoming black-red cabinet to act quickly. “It is imperative that the signal be sent that now, the competitiveness of the location is a priority” said Wolf to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Tuesday editions). “The reduction of grid fees and electricity taxes, progressive depreciation for equipment investments and the reduction of corporate tax must be implemented immediately” said Wolf. This must also include the adoption of the federal budget for 2025 by the Bundestag’s summer break in mid-July.
Following that, there is a need for a “Package to stabilize the overall social security contribution.” Additionally, bureaucracy should be reduced, such as by abolishing the German Supply Chain Act. The President of the largest employer association urges the strengthening of “the competitiveness of the industrial location Germany.”
The metal and electrical industry has alone lost over 110,000 jobs since 2023 and there are significant competitiveness issues and “deindustrialization on the labor market” as Wolf explained. However, Wolf does not solely blame the broken coalition government for the longest recession since World War II. “The neglect of competitiveness did not begin with the coalition government and the shortcomings cannot be made up overnight.