Hubert Aiwanger would have ramped up the economy more strongly in the summer.
Now he is hoping for the end of the lockdown in January - and restaurants and ski resorts open.
Munich
- Germany is facing a tough
lockdown
- in the middle of the pre-Christmas business.
Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger
(Free Voters) sees the need, but is already calling for a clear plan for openings.
A conversation about dead inner cities, safe masks and his relationship with
Markus Söder
.
Mr. Aiwanger, we found the press conference this week remarkable: Markus Söder talked about locking - you about opening.
Stupid he always wins, right?
Aiwanger: Most of them
are nationwide resolutions that
Bavaria
cannot avoid.
This also applies to the new debate about a timely
Corona *
lockdown
or what happens between Christmas Eve and Epiphany *.
As long as the number of hospitals and deaths continues to rise like this, it is unfortunately not possible to take a completely different route.
Often we can only prevent some details behind the scenes.
And still you have hope of unlocking again from January 11th?
Aiwanger:
Yes.
Maybe not all industries at the same time.
But, for example,
hotels
that are open to business travelers could open to everyone.
Also on the
skiing
in January with good concepts, we need to talk.
What do you mean?
Aiwanger:
It makes a difference whether I go out to the hut or go on a day trip with the family.
The
skiers
then go
to the lift
wearing
an
FFP2 mask
.
A ski slope is Corona * safe to operate.
And so you have to look at each division individually.
Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Aiwanger relies on the FFP2 mask as protection against infection
Is trading a risk of infection?
Aiwanger:
No, but there is increasing political discussion and the reason for the closure is that.
It's about protecting yourself properly - with
FFP2 masks
.
I would
give
such a
mask
to
the seniors at the entrance to the supermarket
, after all they leave the money back in the market.
I think that makes much more sense as a time window especially for
risk groups
.
On the contrary, such temporal and spatial concentrations of endangered groups can be very risky if they are not optimally protected with an
FFP2 mask
instead of a cloth.
So the deal is: FFP2 masks instead of shop closings?
Aiwanger:
We have to get away from being locked up for three days and maybe infected on the fourth day.
We should protect ourselves well until the
infection
rate subsides significantly and tackle the problem at the root.
This also applies to
public transport
and
schools
.
If you listen to you, you might think that the strategy of closing entire sectors has not worked.
Aiwanger:
The goal of breaking the wave was achieved in December.
But we are in the process of crossing the line with
constantly new regulations
.
Many now get on the plane and move abroad.
Do they behave cautiously there?
Others meet privately for a wine in the evening - and because there is a curfew, they spend the night on the host's couch.
This even creates new risks in private life.
We need more intelligent solutions
in the real hot spots, for example in
old people's homes
.
Aiwanger: "More infections can be prevented in gastronomy than in private"
Has the closure of the catering trade with functioning hygiene concepts also led to evasive effects in the private sphere?
Aiwanger:
Partly yes.
Closures are necessary where there is dancing on the tables.
But where
gastronomy is
well positioned and has
hygiene concepts
, more infections can be avoided than in private.
We need to approach these questions.
From January 11th, we should start
gradually opening
restaurants
as well
- with upper limits and concepts, but in any case differentiated.
Söder called you a lobbyist for the economy.
Aiwanger:
This is my job description in the cabinet.
It didn't sound like a compliment.
Aiwanger:
(laughs) I know.
But in business circles it didn't hurt me.
There is a demand that the lockdown should also extend the reduction in VAT.
Aiwanger:
The reduction was correct: an additional 20 billion euros in half a year for companies and consumers.
That is why I would like
to
extend
the
reduction until the end of next year
and
relieve
the
catering industry
indefinitely.
Nothing has happened so far, the
economy
needs
planning security, a signal is overdue.
I urgently advise that the federal government quickly change its decision.
Follow the corona events in Bavaria in our current news ticker *.
Aiwanger wants to drive the digitization of retail
Would you advise Bavarians to go to the shops before Christmas?
Aiwanger:
Of course, with a good
mask
.
And we have to take a closer look at foreign platforms for online trading: Are all goods taxed correctly there?
Why do we have strict
packaging regulations
for stationary retail
- but
the garbage can is half full
after an
Amazon package
with ski boots?
Something is wrong here.
Do we have half-dead inner cities in spring?
And how do you want to help?
Aiwanger: A
lot will be rearranged: from
gastronomy
to
hotels
and
retail
.
And especially in the retail sector, some will get under the wheels.
If you don't sell online or to-go at the same time as the shop, things will be tight for you.
We can help with what I've been pushing for months: more
digitization of stationary
retail and utilization of the four permitted Sunday openings plus a few longer sales evenings.
But the openings are currently failing due to the legal requirements that nothing works without an underlying market.
The inner cities need life again from spring.
And
we have to remove the basis of
the debates about the
risk of infection
and the closures based on them, if necessary with a mandatory
FFP2 mask
.
Mr Söder would say: you are an indestructible optimist.
Aiwanger:
(laughs) Doomsday scenarios are not a solution.
Aiwanger: "Should have ramped up stronger in summer"
In May you said: “I am aligning my policy so that there is no second wave.” Wouldn't it have been better to price in the second wave?
Aiwanger:
I did what I was able to prepare.
I have organized a
quick test *
that will come soon.
Even the Bavarian
FFP2 mask
with a German Dekra certificate would not exist here without me.
Looking back, what would you do differently?
Aiwanger: In
the summer when the air was
clear,
we should have
ramped up
the
economy
faster and stronger.
The whole culture should have been opened up, meetings should have been made possible with clear rules, including larger conferences.
We could easily have allowed weddings with 150 people in the summer.
We didn't dare.
School policy was dodged in the summer.
Aiwanger:
That's not true.
Several concepts were presented.
We are now creating the
only chaos in the
schools
politically by setting new specifications every three days because the situation is changing faster than
schools can
implement.
Postponing holidays, changing classes, distance classes.
Mr Aiwanger, you did it again and talked about easing.
Do you think that Mr. Söder will call after reading this interview?
Aiwanger:
You can't just set fire to the hut with the headline (laughs).
Then he just sends a text message.
The interview was conducted by Mike Schier and Christian Deutschländer. * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.
A restaurateur from Nuremberg * has already thought about how to survive the lockdown and has come up with a unique product.
