The Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BIHK) and the Bavarian FDP have called for more political measures in the fight against high energy prices. “For decades, the economy in Bavaria has never experienced such uncertainties as it is now,” said BIHK President Klaus Josef Lutz after joint consultations on Monday. Many companies already don’t know how to pay the energy costs – “and every day there are new ones fighting for their competitiveness and existence”.
The state chairman of the FDP Bavaria, Martin Hagen, spoke out in favor of “priority for all projects” that strengthen the business location. For example, in order to permanently reduce electricity prices, all “available” energy sources should be used. Faster planning and approval procedures are also needed to advance the expansion of renewable energies. There are also calls for simplified immigration regulations for qualified workers in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers that is currently rampant in Bavaria. According to calculations by the BIHK, the losses resulting from a lack of specialist staff in the value creation of Bavarian companies add up to around 18 billion euros for this year alone.