The President is looking for a new CEO.
(Photo: imago images/Jürgen Heinrich)
Berlin The news of Joachim Lang’s departure was only a few hours old when the first speculations about possible candidates to succeed him as chief executive of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) began.
The search for a successor is not easy for the association. The industry is facing a gigantic challenge on the way to climate neutrality, the pressure from politics is immense. How the lobbying work of the powerful trade association is organized in the future is more important than ever.
The executive committee of the association will meet next Monday under the leadership of Siegfried Russwurm to appoint a search committee to look for potential successors. Ideally, there is someone who can take over the position of general manager from June 1st. Lang, who has been in the post since April 2017, is leaving on May 31.
This raises the fundamental question: is the BDI trying to come to terms with the political situation as far as possible – or is it going on the offensive? In the environment of the association it is said that the BDI has “the choice between appeasement and attack”. The upcoming personnel decision therefore has “the highest substantive and symbolic importance”.
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The association stumbled into this situation. Lang’s plans to give up the post were accidentally leaked early last week. The BDI only wanted to make the personnel public later.
Since then, there has been much speculation about the reasons for his departure. Allegedly, there was a lack of harmony between President Russwurm, who has been in office since the beginning of 2021, and the chief executive on a personal level. In terms of content, on the other hand, it is emphasized everywhere, the two would have found a common line. There is no official word on any of this.
The Federal Association of Energy and Water Management as a role model
Lang can be clearly assigned to party politics: he worked for the Union faction and also worked in the chancellery under Angela Merkel. If the BDI will continue to follow this line with the future chief executive officer, a conservative or liberal economic politician will have to be found.
There are a few potential candidates to consider. Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU), for example, is speculated to have a motive in view of his departure as faction leader to look for new challenges.
The FDP politician Otto Fricke is also mentioned. The member of the Bundestag with a clear economic profile and budgetary expertise could be interested in a career change, suspect insiders from the BDI environment. With both Brinkhaus and Fricke, the BDI could show a convincing “clear edge”.
However, others point out that Brinkhaus and Fricke stand for the classic BDI course of the past decades. The association would be well advised to reposition itself. The Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) is cited as a role model. Since the end of 2019, the general manager of the BDEW has been the former Green Party economic politician Kerstin Andreae.
With Andreae at the helm, the BDEW succeeded in making a change. The association is not perceived as a brake, but as a driver of development. Andreae stands up convincingly for the transformation process of her industry.
At the same time, she succeeds in pointing out problems in the implementation of political goals in her industry more credibly than classic business lobbyists with CDU or FDP party membership.
More: Between climate and economy – Robert Habeck’s fine line