PRESS RELEASE NO. 33/2019 IG Metall on the Federal Government’s Industrial Strategy: Managing the Transformation Is the Central Goal

Frankfurt am Main – “It is good that the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs is committed to an active industrial policy and is pursuing the goal of significantly increasing industry’s share of value added in Germany,” says Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, regarding the federal government’s industrial strategy, which was presented again today by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. The industrial strategy has been amended in key areas compared to the initial draft from February of this year, following widespread criticism from the business community.

However, Hofmann is critical of the fact that the strategy sends the wrong signals in crucial areas. For example, it proposes capping social security contributions at less than 40 percent, relaxing the Working Hours Act, and providing tax relief for companies. “Deregulation and tax cuts are the wrong answers to the challenges of the future. They are incompatible with the need to increase public investment and to provide workers with security during the transformation, including through labor market policy measures,” says Hofmann.

The current critical situation—for example, in the automotive, steel, and wind energy industries—is not addressed. “The paper lacks strategies for addressing potential disruptions caused by the transformation, such as an active structural policy in crisis-hit regions,” Hofmann criticizes. “Co-determination and collective bargaining agreements—as central building blocks of the German innovation model—are not given due consideration, even though they are crucial for overcoming the challenges of transformation and climate protection.”

Wolfgang Lemb, executive board member of IG Metall, is critical of the fact that the industrial strategy does not provide for the value creation in Germany of technologies developed with German funding. “There is a risk that the fruits of publicly funded innovations will be reaped elsewhere.”

Lemb also criticizes the elimination of the investment funds designed to fend off hostile takeovers, which were still mentioned in the first strategy paper. “If such funds are no longer planned, the industrial strategy will fail to achieve its goal of technological sovereignty for Germany,” says Lemb.

Further information and press photos of Jörg Hofmann

Further information and press photos of Wolfgang Lemb