German companies are rapidly relocating abroad, warned the head of the VDA association, stating that the industry in the largest European economy is slowly disappearing due to high energy costs that threaten its competitiveness.
– Value creation, business, and jobs in a large part of the energy-intensive industry are in concrete danger at locations in Germany – stated the president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) Siegfried Russwurm on Monday. Industrial production is disappearing or relocating abroad, emphasized Russwurm.
– Lights are literally going out at more and more locations in Germany – he added.
The industry wants to achieve climate goals, but it is threatened with collapse ‘because it is becoming less competitive, and there is no reliable basis for planning,’ explains the head of the VDA.
Entrepreneurs, he said, ‘can only successfully operate and invest if the framework conditions are predictable, and (their) cost position is competitive. Recently, they can rely less and less on these two conditions,’ he added.
The industry needs reliable estimates of the total costs of the green transition, he specifies, highlighting ‘a serious estimate of electricity costs from 2030.’
Germany must retain its chemical and steel industries and other branches of the industrial base to permanently retain knowledge and workers and be ready for new phases of value creation, emphasizes Russwurm.
– (This) has nothing to do with uneconomical, desperate attempts to retain outdated industries – he claims.
– The loss of industrial competence would be fatal for Germany and its position as an industrial, export-oriented country of innovation, and it would not represent a gain for climate protection on Earth – adds Russwurm.
