With a joint declaration and demonstration at the Reichstag building in Berlin on the occasion of the vote of confidence, 16 business associations called for an ‘economic election campaign’. The print and media associations are part of the initiative and support the declaration.
The resolution states that the signatory associations, which represent around a third of the approximately 26 million employees subject to social security contributions, expect an election campaign ‘that focuses on the central issue of our time: saving the German economy through better framework conditions.’ The associations are calling on the parties to come up with concepts ‘that will turn Germany back into a country on the upswing and an attractive location for investment. The Bundestag election must become an economic election, we need an economic turnaround – now‘, according to the appeal of the 16 associations, which include the Association of Family Entrepreneurs, the Federal Association of Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA), the German Retail Federation (HDE), the employers’ association Gesamtmetall and the employer-funded think tank Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft (INSM) as the initiator.
At the demonstration at the Reichstag building during the plenary debate on the question of trust, the INSM presented various suggested election posters with the leading candidates of the CDU, SPD, FDP and Green parties, on which the question ‘Are we finally fighting for the economy?’ appeared. Several representatives of the participating associations as well as politicians from the parties depicted commented on the importance of economic policy in the election campaign and campaigned for an ‘economic turnaround’. INSM Managing Director Thorsten Alsleben: ‘A lot has to happen before business associations demonstrate together. When numerous associations from different sectors issue a joint statement calling for a complete turnaround in economic policy, it is an alarm signal of how bad the economy is and how much the economic policy to date has failed.’
In the declaration, the associations call for a comprehensive reduction in bureaucracy that ‘at least halves’ the bureaucratic burden, as well as a reduction in taxes and duties, more flexible labour law, a focus on emissions trading in climate protection and a complete return of revenues to citizens and companies, as well as an infrastructure initiative.
New Social Market Economy Initiative
The New Social Market Economy Initiative is a non-partisan alliance of politics, business and science. It promotes the principles of the social market economy in Germany and provides impetus for a modern market economy policy. The INSM is financed by the employers’ associations of the metal and electrical industry.