How German companies feel about key election issues - A mood survey

There has never been a black-green coalition at the federal level in German coalition history. A look at current election polls shows: this could soon change. How do these prospects affect the corporate sector? Just a few months before the election, what is the corporate mood regarding key election issues such as climate policy, a more active industrial policy or European fiscal policy? The results of a representative survey by Deutsche Bank show: views are surprisingly heterogeneous, and the German corporate sector seems less wedded to the market-liberal paradigm than commonly assumed.

This is reflected in the fact that a relative majority of 42 percent sees a possible black-green coalition as “the beginning of a long overdue restructuring of the German industrial landscape. A more active role for the state no longer seems a no-go. On the contrary, companies are in favor of active job protection policy by the state. This is not a big company phenomenon either: Smaller companies (< 25 million sales) also support a more active industrial policy by majority. One possible reason for this is the increasingly observable fiscal regime change in other leading industrial nations such as the US.

The survey results are also surprisingly divided with regard to a possible European fiscal union. As many as 40% of the companies surveyed see permanent borrowing by the EU or joint liability as positive, in a hope that this will stabilize supply and sales markets and consequently increase demand.

And what about climate policy? Of the companies that do not see climate policy as a burden, 40% go as far as expecting demand for their products to increase as a result of additional climate policy measures. These companies trust the government to cushion the possible negative financial impact of climate policy.

The entire study can be read here .