Veronika Grimm, professor at the University of Nuremberg, has been a member of the influential SVR since March 2020, the circle of five experts who advise the government on economic issues.
How do you analyze the upheavals that took place in Germany in 2020?
In 2019, German industry was already in the midst of a structural transformation. At the same time, the climate debate was gaining in intensity, in particular thanks to the Friday climate protests. This resulted in a paradigm shift in German climate policy. Then, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic first put the brakes on the very positive developments underway on this subject, but it also accelerated a lot of things.
At first, it revealed the fragility of the European Union [UE] : the borders closed quickly. This opened the eyes to many Germans, we understood the importance of European cohesion. The interruption of the supply chains led to a dramatic collapse of the German economy in the spring. Today, alongside national initiatives, the European recovery plan offers a real opportunity: by financing the infrastructures of the future, we have the possibility of developing common visions for Europe. Climate protection lends itself well to this.
Why has the word industrial and technological “sovereignty” come to the fore in speeches?
We understood that it was important to strengthen the EU and to display “sovereignty”, understood in the sense of capacity for action, in the geopolitical context. A forward-looking and internationally competitive industry is essential to meet the challenges. The question is how to position the EU, with its interests and values, in the current geopolitical structures, where alliances are not as clear as in the past. Even after the election of Joe Biden, it is not certain that we will be able to count in the long term on a stable alliance of industrialized countries. The attack on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 6 made this clear. Cooperation in international climate protection can open up new avenues of cooperation with trading partners. It is important to include developing countries and emerging countries, for example in Africa, in all these considerations. Future growth should not be based on fossil fuels, but on renewable energies. For this, climate neutral technologies must be available in good time.
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