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Fahimi, Scholz, Dulger, Hebestreit: Results should not be available until autumn
PHOTO: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has prepared the Germans for a long-lasting crisis with high prices.
"The current crisis will not be over in a few months," said the SPD politician at the start of the so-called concerted action with top representatives of employers and trade unions in the Chancellery.
Russia's war in Ukraine and supply chains disrupted by the pandemic created general uncertainty.
"We have to be prepared that this situation will not change in the foreseeable future," said Scholz.
“We are facing a historic challenge.” The Germans would only get through this phase well “if we join hands and agree on common solutions”.
He referred to the previous relief such as the heating cost subsidy, the elimination of the EEG surcharge, the tank discount or the nine-euro ticket.
The aim of the campaign are joint instruments to counter the price increases in Germany.
A longer process with several meetings is planned.
Results should be available in the fall.
"As a country, we will only get through this crisis well if we join hands, if we agree on solutions together," said Scholz.
Society is much stronger than is sometimes assumed.
"The message that is important to me is that we stand together," said the Chancellor.
Even employers do not see wages as a driver of inflation
The concerted action against inflation should not bring concrete results until autumn, as announced by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
The opening meeting on Monday in the Chancellery will be followed by a whole series of other meetings.
"We're talking a long way," Hebestreit said.
But the situation is such that "you have to have results in the fall".
Chancellor Scholz had initiated the dialogue with the social partners, the Bundesbank and science.
At the same time, Scholz said, he would be happy if the well-trodden paths were left.
He invoked a spirit of community.
DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi said at the start that private households were affected by the price increases just like companies.
The current situation is about securing employment and preventing a review.
Nevertheless, the current discussions about the dangers of a wage-price spiral are wrong.
Even Employer President Rainer Dulger said: "Wages are currently not a driver of inflation, but people are feeling the inflation." Currently, the inflation drivers are mainly on the supply side - especially when it comes to energy.
It is important to him in the concerted action that the collective bargaining autonomy is not touched.
But politics can help ensure that more of the gross remains net.
"We have difficult years ahead," Dulger said.
The meeting made a contribution to “maintaining social peace”.
apr/dpa