Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) appealed to the "spirit of unity" in Germany in view of rising prices and high inflation.
"We are facing a historic challenge," he said on Monday in Berlin after the start of the consultations by the government, trade unions and business associations on the difficult situation, which were dubbed "concerted action".
"The current crisis will not be over in a few months," added Scholz.
Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine has changed everything, the supply chains are still disrupted by the corona pandemic and general uncertainty is growing.
Therefore, it is now necessary to “leave the beaten track”.
The first session of the "concerted action" was a promising start.
The Chancellor emphasized that the fair balance between interests in a spirit of community characterizes Germany.
This spirit must be preserved and strengthened.
With a view to the rising prices for energy and other important goods of daily life, he said that everyone feels it when shopping, when paying for heating costs and when filling up.
That's why the message is important to him: "We stand together and want all citizens to get through this time well."
With the so-called concerted action, the Chancellor is pursuing the goal of preventing or mitigating real income losses and at the same time counteracting the risk of a price spiral.
The first meeting was about developing a common understanding of the situation.
In the coming weeks, we will look at ways of responding to this.
The kick-off meeting in the Chancellery was attended by DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi and employers' president Rainer Dulger, as well as other representatives of trade unions and business associations.
On the part of the government, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) are also involved in the consultations.