The Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche criticized the country's economic model and called for reforms. According to her, today's problems in Germany are an abundance of bureaucracy, expensive energy, and high taxes, DW reports.
Germany's economy is struggling to compete in the international market due to high energy prices, large taxes, and an abundance of bureaucracy. This was stated by the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche in Berlin on Tuesday, October 28, at a conference on foreign trade attended by German businessmen.
Reiche: Germany is Missing the Technological Leap
"Germany has burdened its companies with excessive regulation and high energy prices, which are a result of misguided energy policies. As a result, production has become more expensive. At the same time, a social state has been built that, in its current scale, is a burden on jobs and labor costs," said Reiche, who took office in May 2025.
"Currently, we are uncompetitive with our structures," she added. "We are losing time in an increasingly accelerating technological leap." Among the problems of the German economy, the minister mentioned "incredibly high taxes."
Reiche: The Economic World Order Has Collapsed, Fragmentation is Needed
Reiche pointed to global geopolitical conflicts, including between the United States and China. "Germany has found itself at the center of global tension between open markets and geopolitical power interests. How we handle this will determine whether we can remain a highly developed economic power," the minister said.
In her opinion, the liberal economic world order is a thing of the past. "And it will not return, at least in the near future," Reiche predicts.
She believes that today the world economy is becoming increasingly fragmented and focused on individual regions. As an example of successful policy in these conditions, Reiche cited Donald Trump's trips to Asia, where he "systematically" attracts investments from each country individually.
Reiche: The European Union Has Become a Regulatory Brake
The minister called for fundamental reforms, including at the level of the European Union. "The EU must focus on becoming a driving force for strong competition, rather than seeing itself as a regulatory brake. We must become not the Silicon Valley of bureaucracy, but the Silicon Valley of breakthroughs," Reiche stated.
She urged German companies to expand their supply chains to avoid one-sided dependence on China. "I do not understand why, after the coronavirus pandemic and the gas crisis, some companies still rely on a single-source strategy," the minister expressed her outrage.
She sees particular potential in markets such as Vietnam and Mexico. In exploring these and other new markets, German businesses must show more courage, Reiche is convinced. "How did your predecessors open the Chinese market 30, 40, and even 20 years ago? Without any free trade agreements," she said. "They went there. They invested. They took risks because they saw opportunities in this vast country."
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