Et is Saturday evening shortly after eight when Robert Habeck seems really happy again for a long time. The Federal Minister of Economics and Vice Chancellor is standing on the roof terrace of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, behind him the skyline of the city-state sparkles, next door a few tourists are still doing laps in the infinity pool, for which the hotel complex is known. The gas aid, the nuclear debate, the Cosco participation in the port of Hamburg: all the Berlin quarrels of the past few weeks are far away.
In the glaring spotlight of the television cameras, Habeck reports on the talks he had with economists, the trade minister and the deputy prime minister of Singapore, which he believes were a complete success. There was agreement “that one cannot afford to be unilaterally dependent on China in certain critical sectors,” he says. In some areas, however, these dependencies already exist, for example in digital technology, semiconductor production and everything that is needed to expand renewable energies.
SMEs are there
The Greens politician flew to Singapore with a good dozen managers, most of them medium-sized companies, where the 17th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business is taking place until Monday. Face-to-face for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the Raffles City conference center is buzzing with activity. Habeck wants to use the conference to promote more diversification among German managers. Less China, more business with other countries from the region, that’s the wish of the Economics Minister.
Ever since the Russian attack on Ukraine, it’s clear to everyone in Berlin that Germany could face an even bigger problem than high gas prices, namely if China decides to use force to assert its claim to Taiwan. Sanctions against China would hit Germany far harder than those against Russia. Then it would not only be about energy, but about everything. China is by far Germany’s most important trading partner.
The trip, on which Habeck, for once, is not the Minister for Energy Procurement but the Minister for Trade, follows a carefully planned choreography. One day before departure, plans are made public that the Ministry of Economics wants to change the rules for investment guarantees. In countries where investments are piling up, companies should in future pay more for the state to protect them against political risks. China is one such country, accounting for almost 40 percent of the most recent total cover volume of 29 billion euros. In the future, the federal government wants to stay away from amounts of more than 3 billion euros per company and state.
New free trade offensive
Next, the parliamentary groups of the traffic light coalition launch a paper in which they announce a free trade offensive. The agreement with Canada (Ceta), which the Greens have fought for a long time, is to be ratified by the Bundestag shortly, and the EU Commission’s negotiations with Chile and Mexico are also to be concluded quickly. There is even said to be a new edition of talks with the Americans, albeit no longer under the buzzword TTIP. Finally, on the roof terrace of the Marina Sands, Habeck calls India “super interesting”.
The minister wasn’t so relaxed for a long time.
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Image: dpa
These are all new tones from the Greens, which are traditionally critical of free trade – and concessions to the free trade-friendly FDP. In return, the Greens also get something from the FDP: Germany is withdrawing from the Energy Charter, an investment protection agreement that allows companies to sue government decisions before arbitral tribunals. On this basis, for example, the German energy company RWE demanded compensation from the Netherlands for the decision to phase out coal. After nothing came of a reform of the Energy Charter at European level, Germany is now drawing the line for itself.