According to the German Federation of Trade Unions, the restructuring of Saarland’s industry must be about keeping “employment, added value and prosperity” in the state. “We are very pleased that the transformation fund is being set up in Saarland. After all, it is a trade union idea and demand,” said the DGB state chairwoman for Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, Susanne Wingertszahn, in an interview with the German Press Agency. The fund serves to leverage private investments with public money and thus also offers the opportunity to be able to shoulder the often necessary own contribution of the state in a support program.
“In this way it will be possible to support key technological areas in the long term and thus provide the necessary financing for climate-friendly technologies and processes,” said the trade unionist, who was born in Sankt Wendel in Saarland. At the beginning of December, the SPD state government set up the fund with three billion euros of new debt so that the state could participate in the financial aid hoped for by the federal government and the EU for the restructuring of the economy with its own share.
