Industry wants clarity for investment projects quickly
In the federal budget crisis, the business community in Brandenburg is calling for clarity as to what financial support for investment projects will look like in the future. In the view of the chambers of industry and commerce, energy-intensive companies in particular need planning certainty in order not to jeopardize the planned transition to a more climate-friendly economy. Following the budget ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the federal government is lacking 60 billion euros that had already been firmly planned for investments in the coming years.
Steel producer Arcelormittal, which also has a plant in Eisenhüttenstadt, complained that there was a risk of damage to Germany as a business location "if alternatives are not provided immediately to finance and continue the planned transformation projects". The company aims to reduce emissions of the climate-damaging carbon dioxide CO2 by 30 percent in Europe by 2030 and to produce climate-neutral steel worldwide by 2050.
There are also fears that the planned hydrogen network, on which the transformation of industrial sectors depends, will be affected by the budget imbalance, according to Carsten Brönstrup, spokesman for the Berlin-Brandenburg business associations. Funding for heat pumps is also not yet on track.
"First of all, it is important for the economy that clarity is created as to what can and cannot be realized in the future and which alternatives are now quickly put on the table for financing," said Manfred Wäsche, Managing Director of the Potsdam Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Companies also urgently need a perspective for a secure and affordable energy supply. There is uncertainty as to how to proceed with the plans to reduce the electricity price for energy-intensive companies in view of the billion-euro shortfall. "Frustration, and increasingly desperation, is growing among many companies - and the relocation of industrial production abroad is increasing," said Carsten Christ, President of the East Brandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Frankfurt (Oder), recently.
The steel company Arcelormittal criticized: "The actions of politicians - both the government and the opposition - in this way are grossly negligent." There is a risk of damage to Germany as a business location if alternatives are not provided immediately for the financing and continuation of the planned transformation projects. Funding decisions for the decarbonization projects in Bremen, Duisburg, Eisenhüttenstadt and Hamburg are still missing and "thus a perspective for our industrial production in Germany in terms of transformation," it said.
Given the budget crisis and the lack of funding for investment projects, the Industry ministry should immediately outline an economic policy that provides clarity for future financial support. Households, as consumers and contributors to the economy, are also impacted by the uncertain investment climate, as they may be affected by potential job losses or increased costs due to relocated industries.
Source: www.dpa.com
