“BERLIN. When the black-red coalition has something big planned, they head to the technology park surrounding the former gasometer in southern Berlin. The coalition agreement was signed there at the beginning of May, and on Wednesday, representatives from politics, business, and science gathered there to discuss the federal government's "high-tech agenda."
Funding totaling 18 billion euros is to be invested in projects in the areas of artificial intelligence, quantum technology, microelectronics, biotechnology, nuclear fusion, and climate-friendly mobility over the course of the legislative period, in order to strengthen Germany's position in the global economy.
The 49-page strategy is, in a sense, the German equivalent of the Chinese five-year plan.
The document was already approved by the cabinet at the end of July.
The government has also already presented an action plan for nuclear fusion and a strategy for promoting microelectronics.
The fact that Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) and Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) nevertheless sought out the stage at the gasometer again on Thursday has a lot to do with the prevailing negative mood in the country. For weeks, the news from the business sector has been almost exclusively about crises. Industrial companies are cutting jobs in large numbers. Two-thirds of Germans are dissatisfied with the work of the black-red coalition, and almost half expect it to collapse prematurely. A little self-promotion can't hurt in this situation.
However, the first setback for Germany's technological ambitions occurred right at the entrance to the event. Long queues formed in front of the white tent, where staff at standing tables painstakingly searched for registrations on lists, printed name tags, and then inspected bags to ensure they were no larger than A4 size. Stewards repeatedly stopped entry completely because nothing was moving forward. Some participants needed almost an hour to make their way through the chaos.
Inside the gasometer, Merz and Bär first viewed an exhibition. Robots, artificially produced meat from a glowing pink incubator, and the prototype of an unmanned aerial system, which the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is testing at Magdeburg-Cochstedt Airport. "You could land there sometime," DLR CEO Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla teased the amateur pilot Merz. He returned the playful remark when photographers asked him to smile for a picture: "When it comes to airplanes, always."
In his speech, Merz then became more serious. "We must not allow the USA and China to be the sole determinants of the technological future," he said. The recipients of this year's Nobel Prize in Economics had recently advocated for a bolder innovation policy using similar words. Germany, due to its past successes, had perhaps become "a little too complacent," the Chancellor observed. "For many years now, we haven't been as innovative and growth-oriented as we could be, given our potential." But this could be changed. "We still have a competitive industry in our country." Germany has the potential to be a leading industrial nation in the 21st century as well.
Merz referred to the already increased research allowance. "We are working on the research data law," he announced. In addition, legislative changes are planned to enable "real-world laboratories." These are intended as experimental fields: while government regulation will not be abolished, deviations from it will be permitted in these real-world laboratories. It is also important that companies have enough capital to grow. "I am advocating in Brussels for the deepening of the European capital markets union," Merz said. He emphasized, however, that it was not about politics designing economic structures "on the drawing board."
In addition to Merz and Bär, Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger and Health Minister Nina Warken (both CDU) also participated in the event. Bär drew a comparison between innovation policy and gardening: it requires a decisive hand, "that also pulls things out and plants new ones." Referring to the five "AI gigafactories" announced by the EU Commission – massive data centers for artificial intelligence – she said to EU Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, who was also present: "We need at least one of them in Germany." Zaharieva did not elaborate on this point but praised the high-tech agenda as a whole: "When Germany moves, Europe moves too." [1]
Right. When Germany dies, Europe dies too. Merz flies high for time though. Mutti Merkel was right when she kept him away in her days in power.
1. So sieht Deutschlands Fünfjahresplan aus: Auftakt zur Umsetzung der Hightechagenda / Merz: Technologie nicht allein den USA und China überlassen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 30 Oct 2025: 15.
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