Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The former Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg and EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger sees Germany poorly prepared for the current problems. "We argue about issues after the comma and still don't see the big questions before the comma, the big world issues," said the CDU politician, according to a report by the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and "Stuttgarter Nachrichten" (Monday) at the weekend an event organized by the Haus und Grund owners' association in Stuttgart.
"This multitude of crises at the same time has never existed for the post-war generation - all against the background that there is a struggle between the systems of democracies and autocracies," said Oettinger. The debate in Germany on this does not do justice to the importance of this great challenge.
The fight against inflation and recession must finally begin, the 69-year-old said, according to the reports. Because the recession is putting more and more sectors of the economy on the decline. "The German economy is still leading in fewer and fewer areas, neither in biotechnology nor in the IT sector, we are still ahead in almost no areas." The excellence of German universities also leaves a lot to be desired on an international scale: "We have to invest more in science and research, education and further training."
According to the CDU politician, the next crisis is foreseeable: China wants to incorporate Taiwan with semiconductor production, which is important for the whole world. If that happens, if the USA intervenes as announced and Germany has to take part in sanctions, the economy would be devastated: "Not gender asterisks, but the China-Taiwan problem must move us," said Oettinger. "We need a strategy, and so far there is no form."
