Good morning dear readers,
the EU Commission is apparently about to fulfill a dream of the European telecommunications companies: US companies such as Netflix, Meta and Youtube, which cause a large part of the data traffic in Europe, are to share in the costs for fixed and mobile networks in Europe in the future.
According to information from the Handelsblatt from industry and government circles, the commission intends to present a model next year to regulate such payments. Europe’s telecom companies cite costs of up to 40 billion euros that Netflix and Co. cause in their networks every year. In contrast to previous commissions, the body under President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) is apparently getting involved in the complaints of the companies.
This story also has two sides: The customers of Deutsche Telekom and its competitors are also so willing to pay for data flat rates with increasing volume because Netflix and Co. provide attractive content. Hardly anyone would book the “MagentaEINS package Magenta Mobil L + Magenta Heim XL” from Deutsche Telekom for a whopping EUR 109.90 per month just to be able to call up the page of the fault hotline.
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Which view will prevail in Brussels now depends on the outcome of what a high-ranking telecom lobbyist describes as the “biggest lobby battle” of his career.
Side aspect: In view of the trade dispute with the USA over the “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) subsidy package, it probably won’t do any harm if Brussels shows that, when in doubt, US companies can also be properly onioned.
There was a lot of trouble here – and the press release that the Dax group Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) sent out late Monday evening made little effort to sugarcoat it: The newly appointed CEO Carla Kriwet is leaving the company after just two months at the top of the group “due to strategic differences”.. And, of course, “at your own request” and “by mutual agreement”, albeit not in the best of ways. CFO Helen Giza is set to take over the management of the company effective December 6th.
Background: FMC is a turnaround candidate. According to Handelsblatt information from business circles, there was a dispute about the right course of restructuring between Kriwet, the management team and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Michael Sen, who also heads the FMC parent company Fresenius.
Yesterday I reported here about Ursula von der Leyen’s plans to respond to the controversial IRA subsidies from the USA with her own debt-financed “sovereignty fund”. My fear was: The plan sounds expensive.
If you share this concern, I can reassure you at least a little bit today. With your fund request, von der Leyen has so far met with broad rejection in Germany and other EU countries.
A particularly original theory: The economic policy spokesman for the conservative EPP group in the European Parliament, Markus Ferber (CSU), accused von der Leyen of taking over the position of French President Emmanuel Macron with the sovereignty fund, so that he could hold them for a second term in office support the top of the commission.
In the Handelsblatt editorial team, there are definitely different opinions on von der Leyen’s initiative. That’s why we decided on a pro and con on the subject, the Brussels office manager of the Handelsblatt is up against the opinion leader. Attention, intellectual sparks fly, please put on safety goggles!
Almost three months after going public, the sports car manufacturer Porsche will be included in the Dax. Deutsche Börse announced this late Monday evening as part of its quarterly index review. The sporting goods manufacturer Puma has to make way for this.
Germany’s selection index will thus become even more car-heavy: an incredible seven companies in the Dax 40 will be car manufacturers, car holding companies or car suppliers in the future. That’s about as balanced as a diet consisting entirely of bifi from the nearest gas station.
The European Union’s oil embargo against Russia has been in effect since yesterday. Very well, one might think, finally we are no longer filling Putin’s war chest with our thirst for energy. In fact, the EU states continue to transfer billions for energy supplies to Moscow.
Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports have even surged to a new high. Compared to the previous year, the EU including Great Britain bought almost 21 percent more LNG from Russia than before the outbreak of the Ukraine war. This is shown by current figures from the market research company Icis. Andreas Schröder, gas expert at Icis, says: “13 percent of European LNG imports currently come from Russia – and the volume is growing rapidly.”
Some of the Russian liquefied natural gas should also arrive in Germany. Roughly speaking, the EU member states plus Great Britain are likely to have paid almost 27 billion euros to Moscow for the Russian LNG from January to November.
Four days after the preliminary round of the national soccer team at the World Cup in Qatar, there is a first personal consequence: Oliver Bierhoff is leaving the German Football Association after 18 years. As DFB director, Bierhoff was responsible for the national team.
Immediately after the World Cup on Thursday, Bierhoff had said that he wanted to head for the European Championships in Germany in 2024 as the next big goal. But as a former national player, Bierhoff knows best that in the face of defeat, dynamics sometimes develop that you cannot resist. Neither on the pitch nor off the pitch.
For me, Oliver Bierhoff will always be the hero of 1996, who secured Germany the European Championship with the only “golden goal” in tournament history. And when I remember watching the game on a portable radio (!) on the nightly Orient Express (!!) between Paris and Munich, it all seems a lot longer.
I wish you a day when you don’t look like a golden gate.
Her
Christian Rickens
Editor-in-Chief Handelsblatt
PS: Who does that harm oil embargo against Russia do you think the most? Do you think the oil price cap decided by the G7 countries and the EU makes sense? Write us your opinion in five sentences [email protected]. We will publish selected articles with attribution on Thursday in print and online.
