Berlin. When Friedrich Merz (CDU) appeared in front of the cameras on Wednesday evening, he seemed a bit from another world. The Chancellor speaks of “enthusiasm” and of Germany as the “best investment location in the world”. He would like to “share the optimism with many people in our country.”
The Chancellor's optimism was triggered by a debate with a group of business leaders who organized themselves a year ago in the “Made for Germany” initiative to strengthen the location - led by Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing and Siemens boss Roland Busch, who are now standing next to Merz in front of the cameras.
The Chancellor seems a little as if the last few weeks in which he was counted, in which his power crumbled, had not happened. Here in the old headquarters at Siemens' Berlin location, Merz can once again be who he always wanted to be: the reforming economic expert.
“Made for Germany” is an association of now 139 members, mainly companies and investors. That's twice as many as a year ago. According to Sewing and Busch, they have pledged 800 billion euros in investments in Germany.
Given these numbers, Merz’s optimism didn’t seem so misplaced. Even if a significant portion of the billions are already planned investments - which has already earned the initiative the accusation of being, above all, a big PR show.
But Merz can really use good PR right now. The Chancellor is weakened, his future is uncertain, and there are huge shakes in the government. The question arises: Does Merz still have a chance of actually fulfilling the role of reformer?
On Wednesday morning he almost suffered the next blatant defeat, but then averted it: the nursing care reform was passed in the federal government's cabinet meeting. Those responsible had been fighting for this until shortly after the SPD first withdrew its support.
And so Merz didn't have to declare defeat on the evening before the economy, but was able to prove that he at least still has the strength to implement this reform. “This is a further building block to limit additional wage costs, to stabilize our social security systems and also to improve the willingness to invest in Germany,” said the Chancellor.
The gentleman right next to him immediately reminded the Chancellor of the even more difficult task that now lies ahead: Sewing praised the Chancellor's courage to reform, but then quickly moved on to the outstanding points. “It is now important to implement the reforms that have been announced,” said Germany’s top banker.
And immediately referred to the pension. After the largely disastrous results of the recent state elections, the laboriously achieved pension reform was questioned from many sides, from the CDU/CSU and above all from the SPD. The black and red decision from early summer to implement the suggestions of the upstream expert commission one-to-one, including the controversial abolition of early retirement without deductions, no longer seems to be worth much.
The pension package is “perhaps the most important reform that lies before us,” said Sewing. “That’s exactly what we need.” In the next few days, the Union and the SPD want to clarify whether and how they will reopen the pension package.
Then it will become clear whether the Chancellor has a chance of becoming the reformer he promised. Even if support within his own ranks is dwindling, at least the economy has not yet written off the Chancellor. “We expressly support the reforms,” said Busch. Sewing said that after today he is optimistic that the pension will work out.
