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Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe? One might think so, given the mounting challenges: chronic weak growth, a sharp decline in exports to China, struggling industries such as mechanical engineering and automotive, ongoing deindustrialization, as well as demographic pressures and a shortage of skilled workers.
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Productivity has not been rising for a long time.
Much of this has been known for years, yet little has actually been done.
Why does the country struggle so much with reforms and modernization? And what does a weakening Germany mean for the rest of Europe?
Facing off in The Ring are two German politicians from different sides of the political spectrum and from different parliaments: Sepp Müller, vice chairman of Chancellor Freidrich Merz’ Christian Democrats in the Bundestag and Martin Schirdewan, co-chair of the Left group in the European Parliament.
The central issue in the debate was the question of what measures Germany could take to emerge from the crisis—a crisis caused by delayed modernization, insufficient investment in future-oriented industries, and, above all, a stubborn adherence to Germany’s export-oriented economic model.
“People simply aren’t earning enough money. For a long time, a strategy of cheap exports has been pursued at the expense of workers, while at the same time there has been far too little investment—both in the public and private sectors. These are the core issues, and they really need to be addressed”, said Schirdewan.
Müller emphasized the need to improve Germany’s competitiveness, noting that one in four manufacturing jobs in Germany depends directly on exports. While numerous measures have already been implemented, he noted that these efforts are being hampered by the complex geopolitical situation.
“We see the major challenges posed by the Trump administration. We see the political situation with China. We see other global or regional powers, such as Russia, playing their dirty games at the expense of the (German) population, especially those with low and middle incomes”, Müller said.
In the debate over economic solutions to stimulate the economy, both sides primarily disagreed on the merits of free trade agreements.
For Müller, they are a crucial step toward securing markets, prosperity, and jobs, while Schirdewan viewed workers in particular as the victims of a mechanism that only further exacerbates economic inequality in society.
Differing viewpoints also became apparent in tax and housing policy.
This episode of The Ring is anchored by Stefan Grobe, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos.
Watch The Ring on Euronews TV or in the player above and send us your views by writing to [email protected].
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