The third day of the 20th SZ Economic Summit in Berlin will begin shortly.
When the day starts with Wolfgang Kubicki...
...then it can only be exciting, right? The FDP chairman is the first guest on the third day of the SZ economic summit on the Euref campus in Berlin-Schöneberg. As is well known, Kubicki is rarely at a loss for a rude comment and is welcomed on stage at around 9.45 a.m. by my equally quick-witted colleagues Bastian Brinkmann and Lisa Nienhaus for a live interview.
Only 16 percent of Germans trust Merz to carry out reforms
Almost all German citizens agree: Germany needs reforms. In a survey that the Civey company conducted exclusively for the economic summit, 87 percent of those surveyed stated that the need for reform in this country was “rather great” or “very great”. But the Germans don't trust the Chancellor to take on this task. When asked “How much confidence do you have that Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) can advance reforms for Germany?” Just 16 percent of those surveyed answered “rather large” or “very large”. However, 80 percent say they have little confidence that Merz can advance reforms for Germany. Civey boss Janina Mütze will give a keynote speech at the SZ economic summit today. The issue: How much longer can we afford this government?
Three highlights from the second day of the SZ economic summit
Daniel Metzler, head of the Bavarian space company Isar Aerospace, kicked off the event together with SZ deputy editor-in-chief Uli Schäfer on the main stage in the Gasometer in Berlin-Schöneberg. Isar Aerospace is Germany's first space unicorn and is valued at around two billion euros. The demand for the Spectrum launch vehicle is huge, said Metzler: “We choose the customers.” 80 to 85 percent of inquiries currently come from the defense sector. It is noticeable that the West has now woken up in the face of geopolitical tensions, said Metzler and added with a wink: “President Trump is one of the best defense ministers in Europe.”
Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) declared in her speech in the early afternoon: “Germany is a space nation.” However, Josef Aschbacher, the head of the European Space Agency, added afterwards: "We Europeans have seen that we have a very competent partner in NASA. But the decisions are made in Washington, not together." There is a need for a European space infrastructure.
Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger struck a critical tone in a conversation with SZ summit boss Lisa Nienhaus: “I sometimes have the feeling that we no longer want to be world leaders in Germany, but just mediocrity in many areas,” said the armaments manager, calling for greater investments and also talking about the growth of his own group.
Many prominent guests from business, politics and society are also expected at the SZ economic summit on Wednesday, including Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD), Mercedes boss Ola Källenius, entrepreneur Raoul Roßmann and Green economic politician Katharina Dröge. The event begins at 9:45 a.m. with FDP party leader Wolfgang Kubicki in conversation with Lisa Nienhaus and Bastian Brinkmann.
Wildberger: “Team Ja is the cooler team”
The Federal Minister for Digital and State Modernization Karsten Wildberger (CDU) is convinced that people in Germany underestimate the speed at which innovations are currently developing. At the same time, he sees a major crisis of trust among people in the state - many citizens are also afraid of AI.
When it comes to innovations, Wildberger would like to see more openness instead of, as is so often the case, rejection: “Team No doesn’t have to implement anything in the end,” he says. "Team Yes is the cooler team. Team Yes finds answers and solutions."
When asked about the state of the black-red coalition, the minister explains that the government needs to involve people more emotionally again: “With a cool head and a warm heart – and not the other way around.”
Severin Schwan: “Germany has a problem with data”
Severin Schwan is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Roche. The pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Basel, has more than 100,000 employees and a market value of over 300 billion euros. This makes Roche one of the most valuable companies in Europe. However, Schwan does not give Europe and Germany in particular a particularly good report. The country is lagging behind in digitalization. “Germany has a problem with data, the term has a negative connotation here.” Access to data is so difficult that it is impossible to establish meaningful AI projects in the health sector here. And the drug prices are sometimes only half as high as in the USA.
ESA boss: “The decisions are made in Washington”
Should Europe take its own path to the moon? The Director General of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, the astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Hélène Huby, the founder and boss of The Exploration Company, will talk about this question on stage.
Even though Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) had described Germany as a “space travel nation” during her appearance a few minutes earlier, so far German astronauts have only been able to get into space with the support of NASA. Aschbacher is convinced that a European infrastructure would be needed to do it differently. Similar to other economic areas, Europe must ask itself the question of how much it wants to become dependent on the decisions of other nations. The most recent experiences with NASA were sobering, an important project was paused, and a second project, in which they wanted to collect soil samples from Mars, was unilaterally canceled by the US space organization, said Aschbacher.
Papperger: “Without performance we will perish in this country”
SZ summit leader Lisa Nienhaus is now interviewing Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger on the main stage. The 63-year-old is considered a man of clear words. At the SZ economic summit he criticized the German economy and society. The arms manager calls for more armaments. You have to invest in order to achieve high performance. “I sometimes have the feeling that we no longer want to be world leaders in Germany, but rather just mediocre in many areas,” said Papperger. “Without performance, we will perish in this country.”
It was a strategic mistake that this country relied on the USA for military issues for too long. There, and also in other nations, a lot has been upgraded over the past 30 years. “We have to do this now, otherwise our soldiers will not be properly equipped,” says Papperger.
“It wasn’t a bubble, but it was an exaggeration.”
On November 5th, the Rheinmetall share price collapsed after the company lowered its sales forecast for 2026 from 13.7 to 14.2 billion euros to around 13.2 billion euros. CEO Armin Papperger took advantage of the moment to purchase larger shares and invested a good 500,000 euros. At the SZ economic summit, he gave the impression that he was calm about the fall in his company's share price and spoke of a “correction”.
“High-tech, made in Germany”
Space travel is so prominent in Dorothee Bär's business area that it even appears in the official name of her ministry. On stage, the CSU minister said she was pleased that the topic was in focus at the SZ economic summit. “That’s exactly where it belongs.” Bär: “We have the best navigation system with Galileo and the best earth observation system with Copernicus, both of which are made possible by high-tech, made in Germany.”
Europe between the fronts
War in Ukraine and Iran, rising energy prices and a politically weakened US president who is likely to become even more unpredictable as a partner: geopolitics is currently presenting Europe with several problems.
Hildegard Müller, President of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), has at least a few general answers: “We will not be crushed if we are economically strong.” Müller would like politicians and the population to be more open to armaments and defense today. Max Enders from the drone start-up Tytan emphasizes the importance that young companies in particular have in this process: The actual product is the further development, rather than the weapon.
What is a quantum computer doing in Berghain?
Now Tommaso Calarco from the Research Center Jülich is sitting on stage at the SZ economic summit and, in conversation with SZ deputy editor-in-chief Ulrich Schäfer, warns against making the same mistakes with quantum computers as they once did with AI. Dependencies threatened. “It depends on the next three to four years,” says Calarco.
