The EU is the solution – not the problem

The impatience in the economy is growing. “The tasks of the GroKo is far from finished,” warns Dieter Kempf in an interview with the Passauer Neue Presse. The economy is slacking, the international competition is getting sharper. And yet, the parties in power seem to be more geared to their programmatic and political action, as they can gain half a percentage point in the next Sunday's poll. That is barely enough to prepare Germany for the future.

“Policy makers in Germany are too busy with redistribution and not enough with investment in securing the future of the country,” the BDI president complains. For the promotion of forward-looking technologies such as artificial intelligence, the federal government wants to spend only three billion euros by 2025. Kempf criticizes: “The government doesn't spend money properly.” It takes smart investments to lay the foundation for the prosperity of tomorrow.

Relations with the US have changed with the Trump presidency. The unconditional commitment to each other in the past decades is no longer self-evident. “It is time for the US government to return to economic rationality,” Kempf demands. The claim of imported cars from Europe being a threat to the security of the United States, was completely absurd.

German industry wants to outperform China and the US when it comes to artificial intelligence. In this area it is crucial that Europe speaks with one voice. Kempf: “If we make ourselves small or divide ourselves apart, we will always remain small compared to the US and China. Only as a strong, united Europe, we have the chance to be part of the future.”