According to a recent survey, German satisfaction with the traffic light coalition is at an all-time low. The economy is also more frustrated than ever.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf, Waiblingen The traffic light coalition is not only losing support among the population, but also in business. “Instead of developing a strategy, the government is micromanaging with over-regulation,” criticizes Nikolas Stihl, head of the advisory board for the chainsaw manufacturer of the same name, in an interview with the Handelsblatt. A prime example of expensive micromanagement is the new heating law.
Natalie Mekelburger, managing partner of the cable specialist Coroplast, also says that the problems of a “small-scale and dirigiste energy transition” are becoming increasingly obvious. “But since only the smallest coalition partner is aware of this and the free market approach of the FDP does not fit the planned economy approach of the Greens, it is no wonder that the conflicts are now boiling up.”
Arndt Kirchhoff, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kirchhoff Group, which is active as an automotive supplier, demands that the government must speed up significantly. “The announced Germany speed must be visible in planning and approval procedures, in reducing bureaucracy or in the expansion of renewable energies,” says Kirchhoff, who is also President of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The mood of the entrepreneurs coincides with the mood of the majority of Germans. In a survey by the opinion research institute Infratest Dimap, satisfaction with the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP fell to a low. Only one in five respondents is satisfied with the government’s work.
At the same time, the AfD is continuing its survey upswing and is catching up with the SPD in the new ARD “Germany trend”. According to Infratest Dimap, both parties come to 18 percent and share second place in the favor of voters.
>> Read also: Nicholas Stihl – “Germany is even more expensive than Switzerland”
According to another survey by the opinion research institute Insa for the “Bild am Sonntag”, the AfD, like the SPD, could get 19 percent of the votes if there were federal elections this Sunday. That is one percentage point more than in the previous week.
The managing partner of the cable specialist Coroplast says that the problems of a “small-scale and dirigiste energy transition” are becoming increasingly obvious.
(Photo: Coroplast)
Since then, there has been an intensified debate about the causes of the AfD’s poll high. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) sees the uncertainty in times of crisis as the main reason. “We live in a time of upheaval in which many citizens in our countries are not so sure whether the future is on their side and whether they have one,” Scholz said on Saturday evening at the “Long Night of Time” event ” in Hamburg.
>> Read here: All-time high for AfD: Another survey sees the party on par with the SPD
Some family businesses are already feeling the effects of this. Alexander Fackelmann, managing partner of the household goods manufacturer of the same name, sees the causes of the problems in his industry and retail in the customers’ uncertainty about the government’s actions: “People are saving for the heat pump and are unsure how much of their money they are spending on energy have to spend.”
NRW Entrepreneur President Kirchhoff emphasizes that the government must take its announcement of a moratorium on burdens for the economy seriously. It depends on “whether investment decisions are made by companies for Germany or for other locations in the world”.
The head of the advisory board for the chainsaw manufacturer Stihl has little hope for Germany as an industrial location.
(Photo: dpa)
With regard to Germany as an industrial location, entrepreneur Stihl refers to the country index that ZEW Mannheim published on behalf of the Foundation for Family Businesses and that measures the attractiveness of the location. Germany ranks 18th among the 21 leading economic nations, four places behind the previous survey in 2020. Germany has deteriorated in a country comparison, especially when it comes to regulation.
“We have to restructure the state budget, especially in the direction of investments in infrastructure and digitization, more market-based framework conditions and of course less regulation, more reduction in bureaucracy,” Stihl demands.
>> Read here: “Germany is even more expensive than Switzerland” – Stihl Advisory Board Chairman Nikolas Stihl in an interview (LINK)
The federal government is currently planning reduced electricity prices for energy-intensive industrial companies, but it faces a dilemma: On the one hand, electricity is very expensive in Germany compared to many other countries (ZEW country index 19th place out of 21), but on the other hand the climate targets must also be achieved .
For example, while the chairwoman of the Advisory Council, Monika Schnitzer, believes that an industrial electricity price distributes tax money from less energy-intensive sectors to energy-intensive sectors, which slows down the urgently needed structural change, the economy warns against emigration from Germany.
The president of the family business and managing partner of the grocer Rullko is skeptical about the industrial electricity price.
(Photo: Anne Grossmann Photography)
In order not to fall behind in the competition with other European countries, with China and the USA, entrepreneur Kirchhoff is therefore calling for “an industrial electricity price quickly – especially for our energy-intensive industrial SMEs”. However, there are also critical voices from the economy about the industrial electricity price, for example from Marie-Christine Ostermann.
The president of the family business and managing partner of the Rullko grocer gives two reasons for her skepticism: “The enormously high energy prices are politically conditioned, taxes, levies, levies and network charges could be reduced and the building energy law could be deleted entirely,” says the entrepreneur. She continues to favor emissions trading, which will come through the EU in 2027 anyway.
The argument that the CO2 price would be very high in the future also does not apply. “The state gets billions of dollars in emissions trading. In this way, all the hardships from rising prices can be cushioned.”
Above all, Ostermann criticizes the fact that only large companies are favored when it comes to industrial electricity prices and “green electricity”. Only around 2000 of 40,000 industrial companies would get the industrial electricity price: “A low blow for German medium-sized companies.”
More: All-time high for AfD: Another survey sees the party on par with the SPD