Panorama „Caren Miosga“
“Let’s try squaring the circle,” suggests Habeck
As of: 1:16 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Vice Chancellor Habeck: “People, let’s get together and talk.”
Quelle: Getty Images/Maja Hitij
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Robert Habeck conjures up an imaginary circle of chairs with Caren Miosga and presents his vision for the household. The Green Economics Minister rejects the accusation of paying “bribes” to the semiconductor industry.
The green economic miracle has so far failed to materialize. Robert Habeck started with great ambitions and is looking at a decline in gross domestic product last year and weak forecasts for the current year. Now the Federal Minister of Economics is thinking out loud about a “special fund” to relieve the burden on the economy.
“The traffic lights are overwhelming Germany, Mr. Habeck? How do you save prosperity and the climate?” Caren Miosga asked him in the third edition of her own format. After the one-on-one conversation with the Vice Chancellor, Miosga later expanded the group to include the “FAZ” journalist Julia Löhr and Gunnar Groebler, the CEO of Salzgitter AG.
“The mood in Germany is minor,” admitted Habeck in the beginning, “maybe I can bring in a little major.” With his push for a special fund in the Bundestag, he wanted to prove to the Union and the companies that the economic situation was “tight”. It is now important to create financial incentives to remedy the lack of investment in Germany.
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However, with a volume of eight billion euros, the government’s Growth Opportunities Act is “far too small” and almost “homeopathic”. He therefore considers it necessary to give tax advantages to investments in infrastructure, research and development.
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With several questions, Miosga revealed that Habeck’s push for a special fund once again underlined the traffic light government’s communication problem. Habeck apparently did not inform Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) beforehand. In an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG, he replied that the idea was “surprising in every respect”.
“Guys, let’s get together and talk,” said Habeck to the imaginary circle of chairs. The “political space” is currently blocked; there are no majorities for either tax increases or pension cuts. “Instead of ruling out everything possible,” Habeck insisted, “let’s try squaring the circle.”
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The Vice Chancellor learned at the beginning of the year that his integrating role also had its limits when he had to stay on a ferry in Schlüttsiel due to farmers’ protests. So far, he has “always managed to get into a conversation even in tense situations,” explained Habeck.
“That was no longer possible – unfortunately.” However, it is important to him not to generalize about the blockade of the ferry. It was “just an event”, ten other meetings with the farmers’ association “went differently”. In addition, it is “completely okay” for people to represent their interests, he emphasized, “even loudly.”
“It is not the industry’s aim to be permanently dependent on subsidies,” said Gunnar Groebler, describing Salzgitter AG’s ideas on the question of transformation. The steel company has received the “social mandate” to decarbonize.
Technologically it is possible for them to produce green steel from 2026, but there is a lack of hydrogen and green electricity due to the slow expansion rates of networks and renewable energies. In principle, the industrial manager praised the state’s investments in the transformation, which in turn were an incentive for “private investments”.
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“We currently have a state that is very entrepreneurial,” objected Julia Löhr. The investments are too high and too selective. Instead, she appealed to the Federal Minister to create framework conditions so that foreign companies could settle there. The “FAZ” journalist was particularly critical of the payment of “bribes” to the semiconductor industry. Habeck countered that 35 chip factories had been given funding because there was a “strategic interest” in this.
Habeck made a faux pas when he repeatedly confused the semiconductor location Taiwan with Thailand. Later, however, he switched to a kind of presidential role. “We live in extremely challenging times,” emphasized Habeck. The federal government is trying to find solutions under great time pressure.
In addition to the Russian war of aggression, he cited the “rise of right-wing radicalism” as a challenge. “If there is a reason for optimism, it is the distance we have covered,” said the Economics Minister, highlighting the country’s achievements with regard to the corona pandemic, the energy crisis and demonstrations for the Basic Law. “It’s not nothing. This is a gigantic achievement.”
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