Aktivist Bono ''Wir schleichen nach Bethlehem'' - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Der U2-Sänger und Afrika-Aktivist Bono über Kanzlerin Merkel, sympathische Deutsche - und sein Image als Gutmensch.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
FT.com / World - German investors see growth in Russia
FT.com / World - German investors see growth in Russia
German investors see growth in Russia
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: December 26 2007 17:24 | Last updated: December 26 2007 17:24
In spite of political tensions between the two countries, German companies continue to see Russia as a business opportunity and expect the investment climate to improve next year, according to a survey.
In its fourth annual poll of German investors in Russia, conducted in November, the BDI, the federation of German industry, found 79 per cent of respondents expected business conditions for German investors to improve next year, with a quarter of companies forecasting a strong improvement. Sixty four per cent said conditions had improved in the past year.
The poll shows German business is unfazed by the growing tension between Berlin and Moscow. Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has criticised the recent parliamentary election in Russia, saying that “measured by our standards, it was neither a free, fair nor democratic election”.
Klaus Mangold, chairman of the east-west committee of German industry, said: “The sentiment among German entrepreneurs in Russia is very optimistic. The business climate in Russia has improved durably and companies expect a continuation of this trend in the coming year.”
Germany, the world’s largest exporter of goods, is Russia’s biggest trade partner in Europe. It is also one of the few markets with which Germany has a trade deficit. Russian exports to Germany totalled €30bn ($43bn, £22bn) last year – mainly raw materials and fossil fuel – according to the German statistical office, while German companies exported €23bn worth of goods and services to Russia.
The BDI and some of its most outspoken members, including Jürgen Ham- brecht, chief executive of BASF, the chemicals group, have said Ms Merkel’s foreign policy focus on human rights will hurt German business prospects in Russia and China.
German exporters of capital goods, helped by the pro-Russia policies of Gerhard Schröder, the previous chancellor, have a firm hold in Russia and have been eyeing the country’s derelict public infrastructure as a huge opportunity.
Upon leaving the chancellery, Mr Schröder himself took up a job as chairman of a Russian-German energy joint venture controlled by Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, and has been campaigning for a political rapprochement between the two countries.
About 60 per cent of the 128 big German investors polled said they planned investments in Russia next year totalling more than €1bn. German companies have invested €11bn so far. Some 85 per cent said they would increase their staff in Russia.
Only 19 per cent of companies said they expected Russia’s planned legislation to limit foreign investments in strategic areas to have negative effects on their businesses. A quarter even said that business opportunities would improve as a result.
Among the incentives to do business in Russia, res-pondents noted growing purchasing power and the “remarkable” level of private consumption, the creation of special economic zones, the low level of competition in certain sectors, and the qualification of the labour force.
● Germany will cut its forecast for economic growth next year after a cut two months ago, Michael Glos, economics minister, was re-ported as saying.
He told Die Zeit weekly in an interview to be published on Thursday that growth would be less than 2 per cent next year. In October, the government cut its forecast for gross domestic product growth from 2.4 per cent to 2 per cent.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
German investors see growth in Russia
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: December 26 2007 17:24 | Last updated: December 26 2007 17:24
In spite of political tensions between the two countries, German companies continue to see Russia as a business opportunity and expect the investment climate to improve next year, according to a survey.
In its fourth annual poll of German investors in Russia, conducted in November, the BDI, the federation of German industry, found 79 per cent of respondents expected business conditions for German investors to improve next year, with a quarter of companies forecasting a strong improvement. Sixty four per cent said conditions had improved in the past year.
The poll shows German business is unfazed by the growing tension between Berlin and Moscow. Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has criticised the recent parliamentary election in Russia, saying that “measured by our standards, it was neither a free, fair nor democratic election”.
Klaus Mangold, chairman of the east-west committee of German industry, said: “The sentiment among German entrepreneurs in Russia is very optimistic. The business climate in Russia has improved durably and companies expect a continuation of this trend in the coming year.”
Germany, the world’s largest exporter of goods, is Russia’s biggest trade partner in Europe. It is also one of the few markets with which Germany has a trade deficit. Russian exports to Germany totalled €30bn ($43bn, £22bn) last year – mainly raw materials and fossil fuel – according to the German statistical office, while German companies exported €23bn worth of goods and services to Russia.
The BDI and some of its most outspoken members, including Jürgen Ham- brecht, chief executive of BASF, the chemicals group, have said Ms Merkel’s foreign policy focus on human rights will hurt German business prospects in Russia and China.
German exporters of capital goods, helped by the pro-Russia policies of Gerhard Schröder, the previous chancellor, have a firm hold in Russia and have been eyeing the country’s derelict public infrastructure as a huge opportunity.
Upon leaving the chancellery, Mr Schröder himself took up a job as chairman of a Russian-German energy joint venture controlled by Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, and has been campaigning for a political rapprochement between the two countries.
About 60 per cent of the 128 big German investors polled said they planned investments in Russia next year totalling more than €1bn. German companies have invested €11bn so far. Some 85 per cent said they would increase their staff in Russia.
Only 19 per cent of companies said they expected Russia’s planned legislation to limit foreign investments in strategic areas to have negative effects on their businesses. A quarter even said that business opportunities would improve as a result.
Among the incentives to do business in Russia, res-pondents noted growing purchasing power and the “remarkable” level of private consumption, the creation of special economic zones, the low level of competition in certain sectors, and the qualification of the labour force.
● Germany will cut its forecast for economic growth next year after a cut two months ago, Michael Glos, economics minister, was re-ported as saying.
He told Die Zeit weekly in an interview to be published on Thursday that growth would be less than 2 per cent next year. In October, the government cut its forecast for gross domestic product growth from 2.4 per cent to 2 per cent.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
FT.com / Europe - Germans warn of illegal migration
FT.com / Europe - Germans warn of illegal migration
Germans warn of illegal migration
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin and Peter Wise in Lisbon
Published: December 20 2007 18:30 | Last updated: December 20 2007 18:30
Senior German politicians and police officials said unresolved security problems could mean increased crime and illegal immigration following Friday’s enlargement of the European Union’s Schengen border-free zone.
Josef Scheuring, head of the GdP German police trade union, said on Thursday: “Germany is not well prepared for this [enlargement] process” in which people in Poland, the Czech Republic, six other eastern European countries and Malta today gain passport-free travel to most of the EU.
He said the enlargement of the borderless zone – the largest in the EU’s history – should have been postponed until the “Schengen Information System II”, the latest version of an EU cross-border police database, was operational. The current SIS system was overloaded, he said, noting that under original plans the new system was to have been introduced ahead of the zone’s enlargement. This was now unlikely before late next year, he added.
Wolfgang Bosbach, a Christian Democrat security policy expert and close ally of Angela Merkel, chancellor, said he feared “people smuggling gangs from Ukraine and Belarus will become much more active”. There were also “significant weaknesses” in security provisions on the zone’s new eastern borders, and in co-operation between national police forces, he said
Ms Merkel, Donald Tusk, Polish prime minister, and Mirek Topolanek, Czech prime minister, are due to hold a ceremony this morning in Zittau, south-east Germany, near the border with its two eastern neighbours. The Schengen zone – named after the Luxembourg village where a first agreement on passport-free travel was signed in 1985 – will expand to include 24 countries. Britain and Ireland stay outside.
Germany’s interior ministry said concerns over the SIS database – which contains information on wanted people, passports, stolen cars and firearms – were “un-founded”, since an interim solution, known as SISone4all and including the nine new Schengen members, had been introduced. The European Commission had made repeated security checks of the system, the ministry added.
Portugal, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, on Thursday claimed credit for developing the SISone4all system, arguing the Schengen enlargement would have been delayed if Lisbon had not intervened. Rui Pereira, Portugal’s internal affairs minister, told the Financial Times this was a “small Christmas present” to the EU. He said the EU had been resigned to delaying the enlargement of the Schengen area from the December 2007 deadline, after the Commission announced in September 2006 that SIS II would not be ready in time. Critical Software, a Portuguese company, took only seven months, at a cost of less than €500,000 to develop the interim database, based on adapting Portugal’s national police database so it could be easily adopted by other countries, Mr Pereira said.
Polish officials said on Thursday the existing database was sufficient to monitor border crossings properly.
José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, who will also attend the Zittau ceremony,brushed aside worries over crime and illegal migration. “Europe will become more secure than in the past,” he wrote in a German newspaper.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germans warn of illegal migration
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin and Peter Wise in Lisbon
Published: December 20 2007 18:30 | Last updated: December 20 2007 18:30
Senior German politicians and police officials said unresolved security problems could mean increased crime and illegal immigration following Friday’s enlargement of the European Union’s Schengen border-free zone.
Josef Scheuring, head of the GdP German police trade union, said on Thursday: “Germany is not well prepared for this [enlargement] process” in which people in Poland, the Czech Republic, six other eastern European countries and Malta today gain passport-free travel to most of the EU.
He said the enlargement of the borderless zone – the largest in the EU’s history – should have been postponed until the “Schengen Information System II”, the latest version of an EU cross-border police database, was operational. The current SIS system was overloaded, he said, noting that under original plans the new system was to have been introduced ahead of the zone’s enlargement. This was now unlikely before late next year, he added.
Wolfgang Bosbach, a Christian Democrat security policy expert and close ally of Angela Merkel, chancellor, said he feared “people smuggling gangs from Ukraine and Belarus will become much more active”. There were also “significant weaknesses” in security provisions on the zone’s new eastern borders, and in co-operation between national police forces, he said
Ms Merkel, Donald Tusk, Polish prime minister, and Mirek Topolanek, Czech prime minister, are due to hold a ceremony this morning in Zittau, south-east Germany, near the border with its two eastern neighbours. The Schengen zone – named after the Luxembourg village where a first agreement on passport-free travel was signed in 1985 – will expand to include 24 countries. Britain and Ireland stay outside.
Germany’s interior ministry said concerns over the SIS database – which contains information on wanted people, passports, stolen cars and firearms – were “un-founded”, since an interim solution, known as SISone4all and including the nine new Schengen members, had been introduced. The European Commission had made repeated security checks of the system, the ministry added.
Portugal, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, on Thursday claimed credit for developing the SISone4all system, arguing the Schengen enlargement would have been delayed if Lisbon had not intervened. Rui Pereira, Portugal’s internal affairs minister, told the Financial Times this was a “small Christmas present” to the EU. He said the EU had been resigned to delaying the enlargement of the Schengen area from the December 2007 deadline, after the Commission announced in September 2006 that SIS II would not be ready in time. Critical Software, a Portuguese company, took only seven months, at a cost of less than €500,000 to develop the interim database, based on adapting Portugal’s national police database so it could be easily adopted by other countries, Mr Pereira said.
Polish officials said on Thursday the existing database was sufficient to monitor border crossings properly.
José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, who will also attend the Zittau ceremony,brushed aside worries over crime and illegal migration. “Europe will become more secure than in the past,” he wrote in a German newspaper.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Tarifkonflikt bei der Bahn Bei der Bahn drohen neue Streiks - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Tarifkonflikt bei der Bahn Bei der Bahn drohen neue Streiks - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Völlig überraschend hat die Lokführergewerkschaft GDL die Verhandlungen abgebrochen. Die Bahn zeigt sich fassungslos, neue Streiks könnten folgen.
Von Detlef Esslinger
Völlig überraschend hat die Lokführergewerkschaft GDL die Verhandlungen abgebrochen. Die Bahn zeigt sich fassungslos, neue Streiks könnten folgen.
Von Detlef Esslinger
Tarifstreit bei der Bahn Kein Streik an den Feiertagen - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Tarifstreit bei der Bahn Kein Streik an den Feiertagen - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Entwarnung für Bahnfahrer: Die Tarifverhandlungen mit den Lokführern sind gestern zwar gescheitert, den Bahnverkehr betrifft das aber offenbar nicht: Wenigstens über die Feiertage sollen die Züge regulär fahren.
Entwarnung für Bahnfahrer: Die Tarifverhandlungen mit den Lokführern sind gestern zwar gescheitert, den Bahnverkehr betrifft das aber offenbar nicht: Wenigstens über die Feiertage sollen die Züge regulär fahren.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
FT.com / Companies / Transport - Germany's pay debate is little short of demagogic
FT.com / Companies / Transport - Germany's pay debate is little short of demagogic
Germany's pay debate is little short of demagogic
By Michael Burda
Published: December 18 2007 02:00 | Last updated: December 18 2007 02:00
The past few weeks have been challenging for economists who deal with Germany. First, the parliament just passed a minimum wage for postal workers. Second, the country is in the grip of a national discussion about excessive managerial pay. A number of politicians have argued for caps on executive pay: maximum wages. Because the quality of economic discourse on these issues is so abysmal, one may need to think twice about whether Germany has made any progress on labourmarket reforms.
Germany does not have a minimum wage like the US, the UK, or France. So why give postal workers special treatment? Under certain conditions, the government can declare collectively bargained wages to be binding for all workers. This mechanism is rarely invoked, because the necessary conditions for such a declaration do not usually hold. In particular, they do not exist in sectors where wages are declining the most - where competition from foreign workers is the greatest. The construction and facility-management sectors have been under particular pressure. In response to growing criticism from the unions, the Entsendegesetz was passed in 1996 to set minimum wages and working conditions for foreigners employed in Germany by foreign contractors. While it is generally legal for European Union nationals to work in Germany under the EU treaty, the fact that eastern Europeans were willing to work for wages significantly below collectively bargained wages was a source of tension. The law has now been invoked to extend a minimum wage to all workers in mail delivery.
Eastern Europeans do not work in German post offices. In fact, German postal workers have tended to do pretty well in the food chain. As of next year, the postal monopoly will be relaxed, allowing private companies to compete head-on with the Deutsche Post (a DAX-listed company with 500,000 employees). Because German mail carriers still earn civil servant salaries, their jobs will be threatened by workers employed at lower wages by private companies such as PIN and TNT. Put differently, the Entsendegesetz is serving as a Trojan horse for a German minimum wage and will probably lead to the elimination of thousands of jobs in the private mail delivery sector. The labour minister Olaf Scholz announced over the weekend that more minimum wages were on the way in other sectors - temporary help agencies, meatpacking, gardening, beauty salons and bakeries, to name a few.
What about those maximum wages? While sometimes hard to distinguish from envy, the debate reveals a lot about the economic sophistication of politicians, the media and the public. Rather than asking the economic question - why do workers in low-skilled occupations earn so little and managers so much? - the knee-jerk response has been to call for state intervention.
The discussion has become demagogic. The unions are trying to divert attention from their failure to organise the poorly paid and to raise their wages, as well as their inability to retain the loyalty of high-skilled workers such as doctors, airline pilots and locomotive engineers. While it is true that many managers earn exorbitantly high salaries even if they perform badly, there remains the "managerial law of large numbers". Deutsche Post paid roughly €18.6bn in total compensation in 2006, or about €37,000 per employee. Senior management earned €10m of base pay in the same year. Getting rid of the senior management would yield the average worker at Deutsche Post only about €20 a year. The company would then be adrift without a management team - not a pleasant prospect if you are working for a salary at Deutsche Post.
If Germany really wants to put a cap on managerial pay, it should bring back high and progressive income taxes, such as those imposed in Denmark and Sweden. Yet Germans will have to live with the consequences: the best talent will migrate to countries with lower tax rates. This might have the unwanted consequence of driving abroad a number of top sports stars. An alternative solution might be simply for shareholders to impose the same rules on managers that are imposed on professional athletes who earn comparable salaries. Hire at will, no employment protection, performance-related pay, no golden parachutes and no adjustable stock options. Why treat Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, any differently to Michael Ballack, who plays for Chelsea football club and earned roughly the same salary in 2006?
The writer is professor of economics at Humboldt University, Berlin
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany's pay debate is little short of demagogic
By Michael Burda
Published: December 18 2007 02:00 | Last updated: December 18 2007 02:00
The past few weeks have been challenging for economists who deal with Germany. First, the parliament just passed a minimum wage for postal workers. Second, the country is in the grip of a national discussion about excessive managerial pay. A number of politicians have argued for caps on executive pay: maximum wages. Because the quality of economic discourse on these issues is so abysmal, one may need to think twice about whether Germany has made any progress on labourmarket reforms.
Germany does not have a minimum wage like the US, the UK, or France. So why give postal workers special treatment? Under certain conditions, the government can declare collectively bargained wages to be binding for all workers. This mechanism is rarely invoked, because the necessary conditions for such a declaration do not usually hold. In particular, they do not exist in sectors where wages are declining the most - where competition from foreign workers is the greatest. The construction and facility-management sectors have been under particular pressure. In response to growing criticism from the unions, the Entsendegesetz was passed in 1996 to set minimum wages and working conditions for foreigners employed in Germany by foreign contractors. While it is generally legal for European Union nationals to work in Germany under the EU treaty, the fact that eastern Europeans were willing to work for wages significantly below collectively bargained wages was a source of tension. The law has now been invoked to extend a minimum wage to all workers in mail delivery.
Eastern Europeans do not work in German post offices. In fact, German postal workers have tended to do pretty well in the food chain. As of next year, the postal monopoly will be relaxed, allowing private companies to compete head-on with the Deutsche Post (a DAX-listed company with 500,000 employees). Because German mail carriers still earn civil servant salaries, their jobs will be threatened by workers employed at lower wages by private companies such as PIN and TNT. Put differently, the Entsendegesetz is serving as a Trojan horse for a German minimum wage and will probably lead to the elimination of thousands of jobs in the private mail delivery sector. The labour minister Olaf Scholz announced over the weekend that more minimum wages were on the way in other sectors - temporary help agencies, meatpacking, gardening, beauty salons and bakeries, to name a few.
What about those maximum wages? While sometimes hard to distinguish from envy, the debate reveals a lot about the economic sophistication of politicians, the media and the public. Rather than asking the economic question - why do workers in low-skilled occupations earn so little and managers so much? - the knee-jerk response has been to call for state intervention.
The discussion has become demagogic. The unions are trying to divert attention from their failure to organise the poorly paid and to raise their wages, as well as their inability to retain the loyalty of high-skilled workers such as doctors, airline pilots and locomotive engineers. While it is true that many managers earn exorbitantly high salaries even if they perform badly, there remains the "managerial law of large numbers". Deutsche Post paid roughly €18.6bn in total compensation in 2006, or about €37,000 per employee. Senior management earned €10m of base pay in the same year. Getting rid of the senior management would yield the average worker at Deutsche Post only about €20 a year. The company would then be adrift without a management team - not a pleasant prospect if you are working for a salary at Deutsche Post.
If Germany really wants to put a cap on managerial pay, it should bring back high and progressive income taxes, such as those imposed in Denmark and Sweden. Yet Germans will have to live with the consequences: the best talent will migrate to countries with lower tax rates. This might have the unwanted consequence of driving abroad a number of top sports stars. An alternative solution might be simply for shareholders to impose the same rules on managers that are imposed on professional athletes who earn comparable salaries. Hire at will, no employment protection, performance-related pay, no golden parachutes and no adjustable stock options. Why treat Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, any differently to Michael Ballack, who plays for Chelsea football club and earned roughly the same salary in 2006?
The writer is professor of economics at Humboldt University, Berlin
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
IT-Gipfel Fachkräftemangel schadet der Branche - Computer - sueddeutsche.de
IT-Gipfel Fachkräftemangel schadet der Branche - Computer - sueddeutsche.de
Nur noch in wenigen Sektoren ist die deutsche IT-Branche an der Weltspitze. Schuld ist auch der Mangel an Computerexperten. Beim IT-Gipfel in Hannover suchen Experten nach Lösungen.
Nur noch in wenigen Sektoren ist die deutsche IT-Branche an der Weltspitze. Schuld ist auch der Mangel an Computerexperten. Beim IT-Gipfel in Hannover suchen Experten nach Lösungen.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Degler denkt Die Quadratur der Mitte - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de
Degler denkt Die Quadratur der Mitte - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de
Die Union empfiehlt sich mit neuem Programm für die kommenden Wahlen: als Über-Partei für Alles und Jeden.
Die Union empfiehlt sich mit neuem Programm für die kommenden Wahlen: als Über-Partei für Alles und Jeden.
Miuccia Prada im Interview ''Ich suche fast hysterisch nach neuen Impulsen'' - Kultur - sueddeutsche.de
Miuccia Prada im Interview ''Ich suche fast hysterisch nach neuen Impulsen'' - Kultur - sueddeutsche.de
Miuccia Prada findet es lächerlich, Mode als Kunst zu sehen. Also hat sie mit uns über Inspiration, Hypes und falsche Reize geredet.
Miuccia Prada findet es lächerlich, Mode als Kunst zu sehen. Also hat sie mit uns über Inspiration, Hypes und falsche Reize geredet.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
FT.com / Services & tools / Search
FT.com / Services & tools / Search
FT REPORT - GERMANY 2007: South-western city offers taste of green future
By Hugh Williamson, Financial Times
Published: Dec 04, 2007
For many people in Germany and beyond, Freiburg stands as a vision for a more environment-friendly future. The picturesque city of 200,000 people in Germany's south-west is a magnet for visitors interested in finding practical answers to the questions posed by climate change, says Dieter Salomon, the city's mayor.
"We have delegations from Japan, South Korea, India and elsewhere - and interest is growing all the time," says Mr Salomon, whose own background reveals how environmentally conscious Freiburg is. Elected in 2002, he was the first mayor of a large German city to come from the small Green Party.
Freiburg has two reasons for attention being focused on its growing use of renewable energy. First, companies and research agencies located in Freiburg were - and remain - pioneers in developing solar energy. Second, the city itself has become a showcase for housing and local transport projects that stress energy conservation rather than the heavy use of cars and non-renewables such as oil and gas.
In addition to its international guests, German policy-makers are particularly interested in Freiburg because of the wider challenges Berlin has set itself to meet global climate-change targets.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has this year led efforts within the European Union and the G8 group of rich countries to define clear targets on climate change. As a result, in August her coalition agreed to raise the share that renewable energies contribute to Germany's electricity production to 25-30 per cent by 2020.
The current share of around 14 per cent is much higher than most other industrialised countries, but it remains a very tough challenge to double this within 13 years, according to energy experts. But Freiburg could be a test-bed for achieving that goal.
Solar Fabrik, one of the oldest solar energy companies in the recent wave of solar start-ups, is a good example. Located in its airy, purpose-built zero emissions headquarters on the outskirts of the city, the solar panels manufacturer expects to double turnover this year to around €140m.
"We have to expand so fast to keep up with demand, which is rocketing," says Martin Schlenk, head of investor relations. Set up in 1996 when solar energy was still, as he puts it, a "woolly jumper and sandals issue", the company experienced a real boom in 2004 when the Social Democrat-Green national government of the time introduced legislation in effect subsidising the production of solar energy.
This led to a rapid expansion in use of solar panels, but also to an acute shortage of silicon, the key ingredient in the energy generation process. As a result - in a trend now also pursued by other German solar companies - Solar Fabrik internationalised its business by building alliances with companies in India, Malaysia and Singapore to produce and process silicon.
This has enabled the company to keep up with another key trend: rising exports to sunnier countries by German solar energy companies. "Around 30 per cent of our solar modules are exported, and we plan to reach 50 per cent by 2009," Mr Schlenk says.
Highly visible solar panels - and the ubiquity of bicycles and cycle paths - are among the trademarks of Freiburg. Even in winter the large bicycle parking area opposite the railway station is overflowing, and a dense network of buses and trams means that many people live without a car.
This is especially true in Vauban, a futuristic housing estate of 5,000 people in southern Freiburg where architects, city planners and environment experts have been able to test new ways of low-energy living.
Only about 90 people per 1,000 regularly use a car in Vauban, compared with the 490 on average across Germany, says Roland Veith, the city council's representative in the district.
The rows of individually designed houses include many "passive" buildings, where solar power, good insulation and water conservation combine to cut energy use to a fraction of that in normal homes. A power station fuelled by wood from the nearby Black Forest provides some of the district's energy.
Back in the town hall, Mr Salomon stresses that Freiburg is far from perfect, and points to challenges that are relevant across Germany. "We need the equivalent of a production line of passive houses," he says, indicating that most homes still use conventional technologies.
There are other challenges for Freiburg, too. The region's prosperity means wages and living costs are high, which means areas with lower wages are increasingly attractive to renewable energy companies.
And the growth of both solar and wind power - also of growing importance around Freiburg - both depend on generous state subsidies, which are vulnerable to changes in the political winds.
The mayor is sure, however, ratcheting up the climate change debate means Freiburg, and probably Germany, are on the right path.
"People used to think our environmental ideas were crazy," he says. "Now they are mainstream."
FT REPORT - GERMANY 2007: South-western city offers taste of green future
By Hugh Williamson, Financial Times
Published: Dec 04, 2007
For many people in Germany and beyond, Freiburg stands as a vision for a more environment-friendly future. The picturesque city of 200,000 people in Germany's south-west is a magnet for visitors interested in finding practical answers to the questions posed by climate change, says Dieter Salomon, the city's mayor.
"We have delegations from Japan, South Korea, India and elsewhere - and interest is growing all the time," says Mr Salomon, whose own background reveals how environmentally conscious Freiburg is. Elected in 2002, he was the first mayor of a large German city to come from the small Green Party.
Freiburg has two reasons for attention being focused on its growing use of renewable energy. First, companies and research agencies located in Freiburg were - and remain - pioneers in developing solar energy. Second, the city itself has become a showcase for housing and local transport projects that stress energy conservation rather than the heavy use of cars and non-renewables such as oil and gas.
In addition to its international guests, German policy-makers are particularly interested in Freiburg because of the wider challenges Berlin has set itself to meet global climate-change targets.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has this year led efforts within the European Union and the G8 group of rich countries to define clear targets on climate change. As a result, in August her coalition agreed to raise the share that renewable energies contribute to Germany's electricity production to 25-30 per cent by 2020.
The current share of around 14 per cent is much higher than most other industrialised countries, but it remains a very tough challenge to double this within 13 years, according to energy experts. But Freiburg could be a test-bed for achieving that goal.
Solar Fabrik, one of the oldest solar energy companies in the recent wave of solar start-ups, is a good example. Located in its airy, purpose-built zero emissions headquarters on the outskirts of the city, the solar panels manufacturer expects to double turnover this year to around €140m.
"We have to expand so fast to keep up with demand, which is rocketing," says Martin Schlenk, head of investor relations. Set up in 1996 when solar energy was still, as he puts it, a "woolly jumper and sandals issue", the company experienced a real boom in 2004 when the Social Democrat-Green national government of the time introduced legislation in effect subsidising the production of solar energy.
This led to a rapid expansion in use of solar panels, but also to an acute shortage of silicon, the key ingredient in the energy generation process. As a result - in a trend now also pursued by other German solar companies - Solar Fabrik internationalised its business by building alliances with companies in India, Malaysia and Singapore to produce and process silicon.
This has enabled the company to keep up with another key trend: rising exports to sunnier countries by German solar energy companies. "Around 30 per cent of our solar modules are exported, and we plan to reach 50 per cent by 2009," Mr Schlenk says.
Highly visible solar panels - and the ubiquity of bicycles and cycle paths - are among the trademarks of Freiburg. Even in winter the large bicycle parking area opposite the railway station is overflowing, and a dense network of buses and trams means that many people live without a car.
This is especially true in Vauban, a futuristic housing estate of 5,000 people in southern Freiburg where architects, city planners and environment experts have been able to test new ways of low-energy living.
Only about 90 people per 1,000 regularly use a car in Vauban, compared with the 490 on average across Germany, says Roland Veith, the city council's representative in the district.
The rows of individually designed houses include many "passive" buildings, where solar power, good insulation and water conservation combine to cut energy use to a fraction of that in normal homes. A power station fuelled by wood from the nearby Black Forest provides some of the district's energy.
Back in the town hall, Mr Salomon stresses that Freiburg is far from perfect, and points to challenges that are relevant across Germany. "We need the equivalent of a production line of passive houses," he says, indicating that most homes still use conventional technologies.
There are other challenges for Freiburg, too. The region's prosperity means wages and living costs are high, which means areas with lower wages are increasingly attractive to renewable energy companies.
And the growth of both solar and wind power - also of growing importance around Freiburg - both depend on generous state subsidies, which are vulnerable to changes in the political winds.
The mayor is sure, however, ratcheting up the climate change debate means Freiburg, and probably Germany, are on the right path.
"People used to think our environmental ideas were crazy," he says. "Now they are mainstream."
Hohe Managerabfindungen Industrie wehrt sich gegen Merkel-Schelte - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Hohe Managerabfindungen Industrie wehrt sich gegen Merkel-Schelte - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Mit ihrer Kritik an zu hohen Managerabfindungen hat sich die Kanzlerin in der Wirtschaft keine Freunde gemacht: Der Präsident des Deutschen Industrie- und Handelskammertages, Braun, weist die Schelte brüsk zurück: "Die Politik sollte sich da raushalten", sagt Braun. DWS-Chef Hocker spricht von "purem Populismus".
Mit ihrer Kritik an zu hohen Managerabfindungen hat sich die Kanzlerin in der Wirtschaft keine Freunde gemacht: Der Präsident des Deutschen Industrie- und Handelskammertages, Braun, weist die Schelte brüsk zurück: "Die Politik sollte sich da raushalten", sagt Braun. DWS-Chef Hocker spricht von "purem Populismus".
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Europäische Union - Politik - FAZ.NET - Türkei-Debatte: CDU-Basis will härtere Gangart
Europäische Union - Politik - FAZ.NET - Türkei-Debatte: CDU-Basis will härtere Gangart
01. Dezember 2007 Die CDU-Führung soll auf dem Bundesparteitag in Hannover zu einer härteren Gangart gegenüber der Türkei aufgefordert werden. Dabei geht es weniger um den EU-Beitritt der Türkei als vielmehr um den Wunsch der türkischen Regierungspartei AKP, Mitglied der Europäischen Volkspartei (EVP) zu werden, in der die CDU großes Gewicht hat.
01. Dezember 2007 Die CDU-Führung soll auf dem Bundesparteitag in Hannover zu einer härteren Gangart gegenüber der Türkei aufgefordert werden. Dabei geht es weniger um den EU-Beitritt der Türkei als vielmehr um den Wunsch der türkischen Regierungspartei AKP, Mitglied der Europäischen Volkspartei (EVP) zu werden, in der die CDU großes Gewicht hat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
