On 29 January 2025, the print and media associations, together with around 50 business associations and business initiatives, are calling for the first nationwide ‘Economic Warning Day’. The business community is calling on the parties to place the strengthening of German competitiveness at the centre of the election campaign and to initiate an economic turnaround after the general election.
To this end, there will be a large rally in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate at 1 pm on 18 March. In addition, regional associations and companies across Germany will be organising local campaigns on Economic Warning Day. The associations’ central demands are a lower tax burden, fewer bureaucratic requirements, capped social security contributions, lower energy costs and more flexibility in labour law in order to improve the chances of domestic companies in the face of fierce international competition.
The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e.V. (German Printing and Media Industries Federation) has long emphasised the difficult situation in its sector. Just how dramatic the situation is for the entire economy is shown by the fact that an alliance of partly competing associations has been formed for the first time. Together, they are calling on all parties to focus on economic policy in the election campaign and to bring about an economic turnaround after the election.
The rally on 29 January is being organised by the ‘Aktionsbündnis Wirtschaftswarntag’ (Economic Warning Day Action Alliance), which has been joined by around 50 trade associations. The project group for the organisational preparation is organised by the association DIE FAMILIENUNTERNEHMER e.V., the German Textile and Fashion Industry Association and the Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services e.V. in cooperation with the ‘Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft (INSM)’.
BVDM
The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e. V. (bvdm) is the umbrella organisation of the German printing industry. As an employers’ organisation, political business association and technical trade association, it represents the positions and objectives of the printing industry vis-à-vis politicians, administration, trade unions and the supplier industry. The bvdm is supported by eight regional associations. Internationally, it is organised through its membership of Intergraf and FESPA. The printing industry currently comprises around 6,500 predominantly small and medium-sized companies with more than 106,000 employees subject to social security contributions.