German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has appealed to the Volkswagen car manufacturer to forgo factory closures. “Closing down locations wouldn’t be the right way,” the SPD politician said in the newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Sunday editions).
“Indeed, as the management’s mistakes have contributed to the difficult situation, this wouldn’t be in order.” Although the owners, together with the social partners, were negotiating the concrete decisions, Scholz added.
“It’s always right to remind companies of their responsibilities.” The Chancellor reaffirmed, “I am against dismissing employees solely to save money. Generally, it remains correct to tackle the transformation decisively and focus on electromobility.” Improving the framework conditions for the transformation is now essential.
Scholz called the EU Commission to task. “I think it’s completely wrong to threaten manufacturers with billion-dollar fines if they don’t quite meet the CO2 targets next year,” he said. “As everyone has been on the right path for a long time, only the market hasn’t grown as quickly as hoped. Instead of fines, the manufacturers should be able to invest the money in the further development of e-mobility more effectively.”
Moreover, the Chancellor appelled to the EU to not impose tariffs on electric cars from China. This would also negatively affect the exports of our domestic manufacturers, he warned. “I expect a compromise between the EU Commission and China that is fair to both sides.