The head of Siemens Energy criticizes the "keeper" mentality of the Germans

According to Christian Bruch, CEO of the Dax group Siemens Energy, German companies and consumers are facing drastic changes. "This crisis will fundamentally change Europe's economy like nothing before," Bruch told Der Spiegel.

According to Bruch, he expects companies to leave the country and large numbers of jobs to be relocated. Energy will always be more expensive in this country than anywhere else in the world.

"We should consider whether it makes sense to relocate particularly energy-intensive production stages to where energy is cheaper," he concludes. That could mean, for example, that steel slabs or ethylene would tend to be produced elsewhere in the future. In return, “downstream value-added stages could stay here, because many jobs depend on them,” said Bruch.

He called for the energy price cap just announced by the federal government to be implemented quickly, "so that companies don't collapse in droves. But we certainly have to change our lifestyle as well,” quotes the “Spiegel” Bruch.

The average German needs about eight times more energy than a person in Asia. "We have to get to it." A basic problem in Germany is that "we are always concerned with preservation". It cannot be a solution to “simply switch to a large electric car”.

Bruch advocated separating the question of how wealth is distributed from the question of how energy is priced. "Of course I can digest more expensive gas much easier with my salary," Bruch said. "But we shouldn't base the necessary distribution discussion on the energy price alone."

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