MERKEL S NIGHTMARE: Why Germany's book balancing obsession is destroying infrastructure

Transcription

1 1 von , 12:03 MERKEL S NIGHTMARE: Why Germany's book balancing obsession is destroying infrastructure GERMAN infrastructure is crumbling - literally - following years of under-investment that threatens the country's long-term prosperity, it has been revealed.

2 2 von , 12:03 GETTY Germany is in the midst of an infrastructure crisis A reluctance to spend money on maintaining and refurbishing transport routes, bridges and buildings has left many key facilities in disrepair. Haulage firms are being forced to send lorries the long way round in order to avoid cracking bridges deemed unsafe for heavy loads, with the result being greater petrol costs and higher carbon emissions. Now lobbyists, rival politicians and finance bosses are urging Chancellor Angela Merkel to make infrastructure investment a top priority ahead of September's Parliamentary elections.

3 3 von , 12:03 Hendrick Wust, transport minister of North Rhine Westphalia - Germany's most populous state which includes major cities like Cologne and Dusseldorf - told the Financial Times the issue was putting jobs at risk. He said: When a businessman in Siegerland can't transport his wind turbine or transformer to his customer because the bridges are broken, we have a problem. "We risk losing jobs in the fast-growing rural areas." RELATED ARTICLES Germany's booming economy about to BURN OUT, warns Deutsche How Germany s second biggest bank could DOWN Merkel ( ( /city/836085/deutsche-bank-news-germanyeconomy-overheat-crash) such bridge that sums up the nationwide problem Angela-Merkel-Commerzbank) is in Leverkusen, on the east bank of the Rhine. /836786/Germany-bank-economy-crisis- One Built in the mid-1960s, it was closed to heavy goods vehicles in 2012 after cracks began appearing in the concrete structure. The bridge is not due to be repaired until 2020, while lorries are force to drive an additional 18 miles on average to their destination. They in turn cause congestion on secondary routes and pumps an extra 330 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air each day, the FT reported.

4 4 von , 12:03 GETTY Angela Merkel's election rival Martin Schulz has made infrastructure a key manifesto pledge The disastrous Brandenburg Airport project in Berlin also symbolises the country's public investment woes. The airport was meant to become Germany's third busiest airport, transporting an estimated 34 million passengers a year, and was initially due to open in 2011.

5 5 von , 12:03 But after more than a decade of construction, the airport is still not open and billions of euros over budget. It is now scheduled to reopen in 2019, although some observers have suggested scrapping the scheme entirely and expanding the existing Tegel and Schonefeld airports it was meant to replace. Last year, Germany slumped to 11th in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness report on transport infrastructure. A decade earlier, it had been placed third. In response, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure pledged to spend 269bn ( 243bn) on repairing and modernising Germany's infrastructure over the next 15 years.

6 6 von , 12:03 GETTY The unopened Brandenburg Airport is a symbol of Germany's public investment problems But Mrs Merkel has argued that money is not the issue. In its election manifesto, Ms Merkels' Christian Democratic Union party has promised to cut red-tape around planning laws, which have seen major building projects grind to a halt.

7 7 von , 12:03 Another issue is said to be the Germany's notoriously frugal approach to money. Where money has been made available to local authorities for infrastructure investment, it has instead been put towards balancing the books and building reserves. The public, by and large, approve of such thriftiness, and Marcus Hover from transport lobbying group VVWL said it would take a change of national mood to get politicians enthusiastic about public investment in infrastructure.