Business Associations See Summit at the Chancellery as Opportunity for Reform Course

According to the associations, the meeting with the social partners is well prepared: "It would be positive if we succeed in gaining a common understanding of the target picture and the political priorities as well as clarity on the timetable for the upcoming reform projects," the statement said. The business and employer associations are ready, as part of an overall package for more competitiveness, growth, and employment, to bear their share of the necessary compromises.

The Federal Government's Reform Package

The federal government wants to put together a large reform package by the parliamentary summer break. This is to include income tax, the labor market, pensions, and bureaucracy reduction. Reforms of the statutory health and long-term care insurance have already been presented and are part of the package, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.

The business associations made clear that the focus of the debate on Wednesday must be on growth and competitiveness: "We will conduct the debate on these individual topics on Wednesday. For us, the focus must clearly be on growth and competitiveness." The meeting should be used as an opportunity to explore the greatest possible overlap in central and sometimes highly controversial reform areas.

Criticism from the DGB

DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi sharply criticized the federal government's plans in advance. She told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND): "Alles an sogenannter Reformagenda, was derzeit diskutiert wird, legt den Fokus auf Sparen und Kürzen." She said she missed a strategy that places growth and investments at the center.

The business associations emphasized in their statement that the coalition committee had set a broad and sufficient range of topics for the meeting. "Gerade angesichts der Herausforderungen bei der zukunftsfähigen Aufstellung der sozialen Sicherungssysteme, des Arbeitsmarktes und der Standortbedingungen kommt es darauf an, unterschiedliche Interessen zusammenzuführen, gegenseitiges Verständnis zu stärken und gemeinsame Lösungswege zu identifizieren," it continued.

The associations also signaled their willingness to engage in talks. "Dafür stehen die Wirtschafts- und Arbeitgeberverbände mit ihren Mitgliedern bereit," they declared. The coalition committee wanted to meet on Wednesday with the heads of the coalition as well as with representatives of business and trade unions at the Chancellery to discuss the planned reform package.

With the meeting, the business associations are linking the expectation that the federal government will back up the announced reform course with clear decisions. The weakness phase of the German economy, the heavy bureaucratic burden, and rising social contributions are considered, from the perspective of the employer and industry associations, to be central fields of action in which policymakers must now deliver.