Berlin - The industrial trade unions see production sites in Germany in danger because of the high energy costs. An industrial electricity price for energy-intensive industries, which the leaders of IG Metall, IG BCE and IG Bau are jointly calling for, are supposed to help. "The trade unions are convinced that if prices remain as high as they are internationally, energy-intensive industry in Germany will face extinction in the medium to long term," the organisations wrote in a joint statement. On 9 March, they want to emphasise their demand with a nationwide day of action.
The three unions warn of the consequences if companies in the basic industries such as chemicals or steel withdraw from Germany. In this case, jobs will not only be at risk in the affected sectors. "The federal government must intervene to control the price of electricity for industry," demanded Jörg Hofmann, first chairman of IG Metall. He warned that jobs are being creepingly lost because investments will no longer take place in Germany due to too high electricity costs.
Relocation of production
One example is the chemical company BASF, which is increasingly relocating production to China and at the same time cutting jobs in Germany. In addition to high energy costs, there are also technical reasons behind the closure of production plants, the executive board recently emphasised (
energate reported). "If they close plants and relocate production because of high electricity costs, that is the first step towards the deindustrialisation of Germany," warned Michael Vassiliadis, president of the IG BCE.
In the trade unions' view, the federal government must decide on the industrial electricity price before the end of this year. In principle, their demand has met with an open ear from the Federal Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck (Greens). The problem is that it is currently not clear whether an industrial electricity price falls under EU state aid law. Minister Habeck wants clarity on this from Brussels in the first half of the year if possible (
energate reported). The German government is currently working on a concept that is to allow companies to secure cheap electricity from offshore wind farms (
energate reported). The project is considered complex.
Restructuring of the economy in danger
The industrial unions emphasised that the high cost of electricity endangers the climate-neutral restructuring of the economy. This would require high investments, which could possibly take place at other locations. For example, with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the US government is luring manufacturers of green technologies to the USA with tax credits and favourable energy prices. /kw
