By Felix Rupprecht
German industry is seething! High energy costs, few orders, more and more companies are considering emigration, many employees fear for their jobs.
For Industry President Siegfried Russwurm (59) there are enough reasons to sound the alarm in BILD about the politics of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD) and the traffic lights.
BILD: Germany is phasing out nuclear power, expanding renewable energies more and more – and yet our electricity is still very dirty compared to the EU.
How much longer do we have to live with this?
Siegfried Russwurm: “If I compare the Chancellor’s calculation with the up to five wind turbines per day with reality, then I have to realize that in 2023 we only installed a little more than one wind turbine per day on average. The ramp gets steeper and steeper towards the back, we have to do more and more in the future.”
That means?
sootyworm: “It is precisely the specter that threatens us: We are very ambitious in switching to the electrification of industry, heating and transport. But if we don’t have enough green electricity for this, then we have to cover our electricity needs with coal. And then we didn’t gain anything at all – neither economically nor ecologically.”
Robert Habeck has announced that German industry could be throttled or shut down in the event of energy shortages in Eastern Europe. Should an economy minister say that in the current situation?
sootyworm: “If that’s the case, then it’s not wrong to say it. Part of the problem with the energy transformation is that we are not clear enough about what the consequences are.”
Did a shudder go through the management floors of the companies?
sootyworm: “No, because we remembered what the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, said before last winter. When we come to a situation where we need to manage deficits, then there is just more or less wrong. So we must do everything we can to ensure that this situation does not arise. If we ask ourselves who gets energy and who doesn’t, then it’s actually already too late.”
How worried are you that companies will leave Germany?
sootyworm: “It’s not just a concern, it’s already a reality. We experience it every day that large corporations, medium-sized companies and family businesses say: ‘We can no longer be globally competitive with the general conditions in Germany.'”
What are the reasons?
sootyworm: “Companies are so caught up in the cost of the country and its complexity that they are seriously considering going abroad and are already taking very concrete action to take value creation away from Germany.”
What failings do you see in politics?
sootyworm: “We are too bureaucratic and too slow. You need approvals not only for infrastructure, but also for any change in a company, such as for CO2-free energy sources. Everything must be documented in paper form. Everything takes way too long.
And besides, we’re too expensive. We have energy prices that are not competitive. Incidentally, this is significant, because we set high government surcharges on it, such as electricity taxes, which are far higher than those of our neighbors. On the tax side, we are world champions in the negative.”
Habeck’s controversial heating law is to be passed by the Bundestag before the summer break, i.e. a good two weeks. Is there enough time to revise the law to make it really good?
sootyworm: “The adjustments of the last few weeks have actually been very quick. We only have a day or two to comment on many laws. And that takes away a great opportunity to talk to practitioners about whether the proposals really work. Federal ministries that miss this opportunity are making a mistake.”