Care against driving bans: craft businesses see growth in danger

The Central Association of German Handicrafts (ZDH) sees imminent driving bans on diesel vehicles as a threat to the upswing in Germany. The auto industry must finally live up to its responsibilities, demanded ZDH Secretary General Holger Schwannecke during the presentation of the autumn economic report. The policy must ensure clarity and Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) quickly enacted a retrofitting directive that was designed unbureaucratic and pragmatic. There are currently many unknown variables for companies and businesses. "That can slow growth in the longer term."

The course of the federal government in the diesel crisis called the craft association "unacceptable". "The fact that many motorists now threaten driving bans, is due to the inaction of politics and the auto industry in recent years," said Schwannecke. "If you had reacted immediately at the beginning of the crisis, it probably would not have led to driving bans."

In its autumn economic report, the industry is significantly raising its sales forecast for the current year. Now, an increase of five percent is expected. In the spring, the association had expected a sales growth of about three percent.

The industry benefits from the high capacity utilization. Construction investment also continues to rise, for example in residential construction. In addition, a better financial position allows municipalities to invest more in infrastructure again.

Craft calls for fundamental reforms

In 2018, the craft will probably again set 30,000 employees, it said. In every fifth farm new employees were added. The downside of the good economy in the craft, however, is that the companies were working at their capacity limits. There are not enough staff, the competition and the competition for skilled workers is great. The result is that the waiting times for customers would be longer. "Especially the latter is an unsatisfactory situation for companies and companies in the trades," they say.

The ZDH called on the government to make fundamental reforms. "It must take action in the long overdue analogue and digital infrastructure expansion, the future-proof transformation of social security systems, a noticeable reduction in bureaucracy for our companies and against the backdrop of international tax competition with a corporate tax reform," said ZDH Secretary General Schwannecke.