Europe is destroying its own industry, Germany is the evidence, the Netherlands is next.

Europe is destroying its own industry, Germany is the proof, the Netherlands is next.

15,000 industrial jobs per month! So many jobs are currently disappearing in the German industry. BMW is cutting thousands of jobs. Volkswagen is reorganizing. Machinery manufacturers, chemical companies, and suppliers are under enormous pressure. And of course, we can point to China. To geopolitics, to Russia, to COVID. But maybe we should finally look at ourselves. Europe is busy destroying its own competitive position through regulation. We are making energy more expensive, piling regulation upon regulation, and increasing taxes and burdens.

We are making the granting of permits increasingly complicated, we are imposing stricter climate and reporting requirements. And then we are surprised when companies relocate production, postpone investments, or lay off employees. This is not rocket science! A factory needs energy, an entrepreneur needs returns, an investor needs certainty. If you take away all three, eventually the industry will leave. And the Netherlands should especially not think that this is a German problem. Our economy is closely intertwined with Germany. Dutch transporters, ports, machinery manufacturers, technical companies, and countless suppliers earn money directly or indirectly from the German industry. If production disappears there, orders will disappear here… and then jobs.

While Europe imposes more and more restrictions on itself, other parts of the world are actually building capacity. China is producing, America is investing, the Middle East is diversifying, and Africa is industrializing. Europe regulates, and the Netherlands is enthusiastically participating in this. We close production capacity, we make energy expensive. We tie entrepreneurs up in nitrogen and permitting procedures, we increase the fiscal pressure. And then we write billion-dollar programs to make the economy 'competitive' again. You would almost laugh if the consequences weren't so serious. Because manufacturing that leaves once won't come back easily. With it go knowledge, training, innovation, suppliers, and well-paying jobs.

Germany is now showing the consequences of years of misguided policy. 15,000 jobs lost per month is no longer an incident; it's an alarm signal. The Netherlands can do two things: come up with even more regulations, taxes, and restrictions, or finally recognize that without entrepreneurs, industry, and affordable energy, there is nothing to 'sustain' or distribute. Because ultimately, you can only distribute what is first earned. Germany is the warning. The Netherlands must especially not wait until we become the next example.

But that is exactly what will happen, The Hague is standing by and watching it happen. #Netherlands #Economy #Industry #Germany #RemcoCoerman