The case of Kuka hurt, Peter Altmaier (CDU) until today. In 2016, the Augsburg-based Robot manufacturer was taken over, after intense public debates of the Chinese Midea group. “I’m very influenced by the discussions of Kuka,” says the Federal Minister for economic Affairs. On Tuesday, he presented a proposal, in order to prevent in the future”, that key technologies are weggekauft”. Altmaier proposes the creation of a participation Fund of the state, in special cases, even when the company goes to prevent Takeovers. If Germany was involved in the train or the Telekom, it must be also possible in the case of new high-technology companies to enter.
The proposal is a core element of the “National industrial strategy 2030”, the guidelines presented Altmaier now. He wants to make a repositioning in the global competition and the growth opportunities of the next ten, 15 years to secure. In competition with the USA and Asia, Europe had fallen back.
Altmaier, fearing a loss of added value
The accelerated technological development was a threat to the prosperity of the country. In particular, Artificial intelligence (AI) is an Innovation that could cause similar upheavals, as once the invention of the steam engine: “the one Who slept through these technologies, will be the extended workbench to the other,” said Altmaier.
While emerging economies had so far, due to lower production, the German industry in terms of technology and quality front. “This projection melts slowly but clearly,” warns Altmaier in his 21-page paper.
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In the seventies, I lost Germany its leading position in consumer electronics to countries such as Japan and South Korea. This also meant that Asia was the following communication technologies, such as Smartphones, front. Similar dangers Altmaier sees in other areas, such as the car industry. “The automobile of the future, the digital platform for Autonomous Driving with Artificial intelligence from the U.S. and the battery out of Asia, had Germany and Europe lost more than 50 percent of the value added,” he warns.
He wants to promote “national and European Champions,” and he calls the car manufacturer, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and Deutsche Bank. He wants to protect it from Takeovers, and national and European facilitate mergers. This should be considered in merger control more of the world market as a reference. Altmaier also mentioned multiple companies which operate in capital-intensive infrastructure projects, such as the railway. Here is currently fighting the planned Zugfusion of Siemens and Alstom. The two corporations want to combine their forces to offer to the Chinese market leader CRRC and potential competitors in Europe. The EU Commission will prohibit the merger to the world’s second-largest train manufacturer, but probably this Wednesday.
in Addition, the state should encourage the formation of consortia in new fields of technology. As an example, Altmaier calls the battery cell production. Also in the platform Economy is not to be distributed in the areas of mobility, health economy and digital Cloud Learning the cards yet to be finalised.
Pooling of data to better development secure
According to the example of Airbus is in the digital platforms, in the case of the AI and the Autonomous direct state involvement To “necessary and justified”, – stated in the strategy paper. Altmaier had already adopted it in the past for a “AI-Airbus”, with businesses closing and development units and data could be pooling.
Altmaier, gave as a cross-cutting target that the share of industry will rise in gross value added by 2030 from 23 to 25 per cent and in the EU to 20 per cent. Digitization allows for new Jobs in the industry. As a further concrete measures he wants to give smaller and medium-sized enterprises in research and development, for example, by a draft law for the tax promotion of research. In addition, the burden of environmental and social policy had to be minimized. As examples Altmaier mentioned the high electricity prices due to the energy turnaround and high social security contributions.
“Industrial policies in many Parts of the world, a Renaissance,” writes the Minister of economy. He refers to the four years ago adopted a strategy of “Made in China 2025” and praises the local efforts and successes as a model. His own design was the first “premium” and will be discussed in the coming weeks. A revised strategy will coordinated within the Federal government and by the Cabinet decided.
again and again Altmaier pointed Erhardt, Ludwig, and described himself as a supporter of the market economy. So state intervention, however, should remain limited. Cases such as the once under Chancellor Schröder rescued construction giant Holzmann, he cites as a negative example – and in cases such as Air Berlin and the airline Germania, the state should hold in the future.
The FDP is not enough for this restriction. In Altmaiers proposals “in the end, in order to plan the economy,” said the economic policy spokesperson Reinhard Houben. Instead, the economy should be relieved from taxes and duties, as well as “bureaucratic obstacles” to be freed. Also the Green party parliamentary leader Anton Hofreiter called for, “instead of large companies to inflate to mega-corporations, you must commit the Federal government to clear environmental and social objectives”.
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robotics company Kuka, “The Germans see for the first time, the challenge, the Chinese stressed the possibility of”
Sonja Álvarez
The Federation of German industries (BDI), for a horizontal industrial policy concept of the government, it was “high time” – Altmaiers paper contained “a number of discussion-worthy proposals”.
