Germany’s businesses want Berlin to walk its talk

Germany’s new government has been in power for more than 100 days, and business leaders say the time to make their policy promises come true.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised the reforms and investments that led to hope in the business world and campaigns on a pro -business and economic growth platform. Merz’s coalition negotiations between the Christian Democratic Union, together with the Christian Social Union of the Christian Social Union and the Social Democratic Party, have further increased optimism when it triggered a huge financial change that would provide higher expenditures for defense and infrastructure.

CDU, CSU and SPD are now constituted Germany’s coalition government, and in recent weeks, according to business leaders speaking with CNBC, a sense of enthusiasm from businesses has continued.

“As you have heard before, there are weak political decisions that lasted at least 10, maybe 20, years, as you have heard before, have been very ideologically directed, not a business -oriented, not community -oriented, and the new government seems to be going in a different direction.” BilateralHe said at the beginning of this month.

Other places, Oliver Bäte, CEO of the Financial Services Provider, welcomed the new government’s approach to taking the competitiveness of the new government seriously, and Merz has repeatedly promised to put the road again to push Germany’s industry for global leadership.

“I can applaud them only because they take them seriously, you can activate to fulfill an unprecedented investment program, and at the same time I can end the drowsiness of the investment in the infrastructure for almost twenty years, military, defense [and] Under investment in education. ”

Leading German businesses in July announced Their own initiatives to increase the interest and confidence of the investor. The group consisting of 61 companies plans to invest 631 billion euros in bulk. [$737.4 billion] Until 2028.

“This shows that there is a good signal and an alliance between. [the] The corporate world and politics, which are very important these days, have not been the case in recent years. “

The tone hit by business leaders is also reflected recently dataIFO with the Economic Institute, Improvements in company sensitivity for five months in a row.

Economists participating in the survey IFO and the German news organization Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on politics, also drew attention to the lack of measures implemented so far during the Merz period.

“30% of the participant economists rated the economic policy measures of the new German government in the first 100 days as ‘very negative’ and 12% more ‘very negative’.

The participants “emphasized the lack of reform efforts in the field of social security systems. In addition, more structural reform, reducing bureaucracy and progress on climate protection have seen a lack of open stimuli.

Business leaders had a comprehensive list of requests to share with CNBC.

Roland Busch, Tech Konglomera CEO SiemensHe was among those who called for structural reforms. Some “digitalization, faster decision processes, less bureaucracy, work [on] Our energy transformation “and changes in the labor market.

Specific needs were also called by leaders, Deutsche Telekom said that the company could be supported by the company’s local authorities and the federal government from the fiber infrastructure.

Most of these problems have been marked by leaders as the reasons for the economic weakness of recent years. The German economy made a contract in both 2023 and 2024. Europe’s largest economy later The first quarter watched 0.1 % contraction In the next period, according to the data, in the second quarter.

“In Germany, we have not grew up as a country in the last two years, and there are reasons behind it. Bureaucracy, education, energy prices and being global competitive in this context.

“But we need to go back to growth from a growing country of this country,” he said.