Before the separate meetings between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) with business representatives, the traffic light coalition continues to argue about the right course to take against the economic weakness. SPD leader Saskia Esken called the timing of Lindner’s alternative meeting “childish” on Monday. FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki, on the other hand, criticized Scholz for his meeting and defended Lindner’s event. A government spokesman, however, dampened expectations of concrete results from the talks in the Chancellery.
Scholz initially invited representatives from business to consultations on Tuesday. Trade unions are also expected to take part in this “industrial summit” in the Chancellery. Lindner then complained that he had not been included in the planning and in turn arranged a meeting with representatives of business and medium-sized businesses in the Reichstag building. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr also takes part. The conversation will take place on Tuesday morning – just a few hours before Scholz’s meeting.
SPD leader Esken was particularly bothered by the timing, which she called “a bit childish” on RTL and ntv on Monday. In economic and financial policy, she called for more private investment alongside government measures. “There is a lot of wealth that is lying on the table in Germany and is currently not being invested,” she said. Esken also spoke out in favor of reforming the debt brake. “Investments that pay off and that are effective over the years must be financed through debt and loans.”
FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr rejected subsidies. “The solution is not more taxpayer money, but real reductions in bureaucracy and tax relief,” said Dürr on ZDF. He defended the fact that the FDP had invited people to its own economic meeting. It’s not about a “parallel event,” he said. In view of the major problems facing the economy, the FDP believes that “the industrial policy perspective for large-scale industry is a bit too narrow.”
Dürr’s party colleague Kubicki also believes Lindner’s meeting is justified. “Since the German economy is doing terribly miserable, an exchange with business representatives always makes sense,” he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “It’s good that the FDP is conducting these discussions. We can’t leave it to amateurs.”
Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU) accused the federal government of “kindergarten games” with a view to the two separate meetings. “No, this government is no longer able to act. It is at the end,” said Merz on Sunday evening on ARD. “Unfortunately nothing works anymore.”
In the run-up to the meeting, Left Party leader Ines Schwerdtner expected “tax gifts for companies” instead of “future investments and job security.” She criticized the disunity in the government. “Every traffic light minister is making his own economic policy these days,” she said.
The government does not expect any concrete results from the meeting in the Chancellery. It was “the first conversation in a series of conversations,” said deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner in Berlin. Therefore, “no explanations are to be expected afterwards”. The conversation is also confidential. “Of course the Chancellor is striving to achieve results,” said Büchner.
The Social Democratic Prime Minister of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, however, formulated clear expectations for the conversation in the Chancellery. She spoke out in favor of better framework conditions for investments. This requires competitive energy prices, emphasized the new Federal Council President on Sunday evening on ARD. “I hope that we can pull ourselves together now. To be honest, I expect it too.”
The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) also reiterated its call for lower energy costs. “A central task for politicians is to ensure a long-term, stable and competitive energy supply for the broad range of companies,” said DIHK President Peter Adrian to the “Rheinische Post”.
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