Germany summit: France as a role model: “Choose France summits have shown how you can attract investments into the country through a good atmosphere”
Quick Look
- Despite the debt and budget crisis, France is spreading a better mood in the search for international capital than Germany.
- At the Germany summit, experts such as Philipp Freise from KKR emphasized the need to credibly implement reform promises in order to attract investors.
- France's 'Choose France' summit under Macron serves as a model, while Germany wants to address international financial investors with its Invest in Germany Summit on October 20th.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Despite its economic substance, Germany is experiencing a trust deficit among international investors due to previous years of poor sentiment. France, under President Macron, has shown with the 'Choose France' summits how targeted events can attract investment. The federal government is planning its own Invest in Germany Summit to mobilize private capital for the economy and infrastructure.
Despite the debt and budget crisis, France is in a better mood than Germany when it comes to the search for international capital. What the federal government should do.
Germany summit: Dorothee Blessing, Philipp Freise, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln (from left). Photo: Marc-Steffen Unger / Handelsblatt
Frankfurt. The German economy does not lack economic substance, but the poor mood of recent years continues to deter international investors. Philipp Freise, co-head of European Private Equity at the financial investor KKR, is convinced of this.
At the Germany summit hosted by Handelsblatt and Wirtschaftswoche, Freise noted a new spirit of optimism after the “paralysis”. But investors would be watching closely to see whether the political reform promises were being implemented.
That's why the Federal Government's upcoming investment summit is primarily about credibly conveying the new spirit of optimism and the will to reform. Freise sees France as a role model. With his “Choose France” summits, President Emmanuel Macron showed “how to attract investments into the country through a good atmosphere”.
With its “Invest in Germany Summit” on October 20th, the federal government wants to attract large international financial investors in order to mobilize additional private capital for the German economy and infrastructure.
Last year, foreign investments (Foreign Direct Investment, FDI) in Germany rose sharply. Data from the German Economic Institute (IW) show that international companies invested around 86 billion euros in 2025, 50 percent more than in the previous year. Investments thus stabilized again after a slump.
However, in a European comparison, Germany is not at the top. Year after year, EY consultants measure how attractive Europe's countries are for foreign investments. France is ahead in the EY Attractiveness Barometer for the seventh time, Germany is in third place behind Great Britain.
French President Macron gathered around 200 company bosses at the Palace of Versailles near Paris at the beginning of June. At the ninth “Choose France” summit, the president was able to report investments in France worth a record 93 billion euros.
Allow “creative destruction”?
Similar to Freise, the economist Gabriel Felbermayr also sees a solid economic substance in Germany, but there is a lack of will to change this substance, including through “creative destruction”. Other countries set a much faster pace in redistributing economic resources towards new growth sectors.
Related topics
GermanyFranceEmmanuel Macron
This redistribution must also affect the labor market, said Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, President of the Berlin Science Center for Social Research. “The talent is there,” said Fuchs Schündeln, but there is often a lack of mobility.
The economist therefore calls for innovative political incentives to change employers. This allows the transfer of knowledge between companies to be optimized.
According to Dorothee Blessing, Global Head of Investment Banking Coverage at JP Morgan, it is not a lack of international capital for Germany but rather a lack of investable projects. That is why it is so important to create reliable framework conditions for cooperation between the public sector and private capital through events like the Germany Summit.
More: What Germany needs for a new economic miracle – and what business leaders are demanding for it
Published according to the editorial standards of the Handelsblatt. You can find more information in our guidelines.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The federal government's Invest in Germany Summit on October 20th will address international financial investors and generate initial commitments for investments in Germany.
Likely · Within weeks
France will maintain its leadership position in the EY Attractiveness Barometer in the coming years as long as the Choose France summits continue.
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific reforms is the federal government planning to regain investors' trust?
- How will the Invest in Germany Summit on October 20th be structured and what goals will it pursue?
- What specific barriers are currently preventing the mobility of workers in Germany despite existing talent?
- What criteria make a project in Germany “investable” from the perspective of international investors?
