After the federal election and before a coalition and government is formed, some citizens are already feeling frustrated: Can’t they finally get started? But this impatience fails to recognize the dimension of the political change that is currently taking place in Berlin. If the SPD, FDP and the Greens want to find each other, it’s a big project.
In terms of content, positions must be placed next to each other and interlinked that at first glance appear to be far apart. In terms of atmosphere, parties have to gain trust in one another who have previously liked one another in mutual dislike. But lo and behold: it works. Suddenly representatives of the FDP and the Greens, who have long been antagonistic to each other, sit together in a constructive and relaxed manner; Ugly games are almost only found in the Union. It has rightly maneuvered itself on the sidelines – which leaves a clear view of those who want to dare to start over.
Many actors leave their trenches and can suddenly imagine working together where it previously seemed unthinkable. This does not only refer to the relationship of the antipodes to one another, but affects many fields. With the Greens you can hear good words about the innovative strength of the German economy, with which the turnaround in climate policy is to be shaped together, and in the economy you can hear friendly words about the Greens, who as early warners are now accorded a high level of credibility.
In this context, an interview with the entrepreneur Karl Haeusgen, who is particularly influential in conservative circles, is characteristic. The President of the Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering (VDMA), in which many well-known companies and the collective pride of the German export industry are organized, speaks in favor of a coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP; in June he had voted for a Jamaica coalition led by the Union.
“In the meantime I have come to believe that a traffic light is the better solution,” said Haeusgen Wirtschaftswoche. “The Union has lost to such an extent that the legitimation for the Chancellery and running a government is no longer given. In addition, there are the many dissonances within the Union before the election and even now.”
The Greens as Destroyers of Prosperity? Hardly anyone believes that, even in the executive suite
Something similar has been observed in Baden-Württemberg. Ten years ago, you mainly met medium-sized companies there, for whom a Green Prime Minister would have been at least synonymous with the downfall of the West. After some affairs, the CDU is out of the game, many business leaders are even avowed fans of Winfried Kretschmann – and some even elected him secretly in the state elections.
This prepares the ground for an approach, especially on the most important of all topics, climate protection. For a long time both worlds worked against each other, some demonized capitalism as an uncompromising destroyer of the environment, others warned of the costs of environmental protection. Now the Greens are admitting that they need the innovative strength of companies for the climate change, companies are realizing that climate protection can no longer be a private matter and that, by the way, even business opportunities lie dormant here. Sustainable finance has become a huge topic even in the die-hard financial industry, where money is still more important than morality.
Green technologies as an opportunity for the economy, full throttle for green hydrogen, fuel cells, batteries and synthetic fuels, for green technology and the circular economy, for green electricity, for solar and wind energy: this is now the order of the day in business circles as well.
In short: there has not been so much change for a long time, and if this is to be poured into a clever government program, it can still take a little longer.