New German government wants to move towards a socio-ecological market economy

The social democratic SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP have concluded a coalition agreement. The new German government wants to invest heavily in making the economy more sustainable and in digitalisation. The so-called traffic light coalition also wants to focus heavily on strengthening the EU.

The draft coalition agreement is entitled 'Towards a socio-ecological market economy'. In the area of research and innovation, the new government names concrete action points. For example, Germany wants to increase the share of government expenditure on R&D to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2025.

Six focus areas have also been designated on 'technology for the future', such as a climate-neutral industry, making healthcare crisis-proof and more focus on technological sovereignty on themes such as AI and quantum computing. A summary of the action points is in this document to find.

Business organizations MKB-Nederland and VNO/NCW respond satisfactorily on the drafted coalition agreement. They state that it is good news that Germany wants to work on the lagging digitalization and, as a large industrial country, wants to focus more on sustainability. Furthermore, the ambition to create a strong and sovereign Europe is seen as a plus. It would also offer our country opportunities to further strengthen the ties with the Netherlands' most important trading partner.