The settlement of Intel in Magdeburg and other projects in the field of microelectronics are to be financially supported. Prime Minister Haseloff relies on immigration to recruit skilled workers.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – The Eastern Commissioner Carsten Schneider (SPD) has announced that the federal government will support the microelectronics industry in Germany with billions. In the budget deliberations in the Bundestag, it was agreed to support investment projects this year with around 2.7 billion euros, said Schneider on Tuesday after his inaugural visit to the state government of Saxony-Anhalt in Magdeburg. In the years that follow, another twelve billion euros could flow.
Among other things, the funds are intended to support the planned settlement of the US manufacturer Intel in Magdeburg, where chips are to be produced from 2027. In a first expansion stage, two neighboring semiconductor plants are to be built, which could create several thousand jobs. Intel initially wants to invest around 17 billion euros in this. Construction is scheduled to begin next year.
According to the Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Europe, talks are also being held with other investors in order to strengthen the microelectronics sector. The European center of microelectronics will be in East Germany, said Schneider. “This is madness.”
Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) pointed out that Saxony-Anhalt will have to increasingly recruit skilled workers in the coming years. Due to the lower birth rates after reunification, the potential of the labor force is not sufficient in the future. In fact, you already have full employment. “We need immigration,” said Haseloff. In addition, more commuters are to be attracted.
When asked, Schneider also confirmed after the meeting with the state cabinet that the federal and state governments were in talks to finance special pensions. The East German states have to raise around 2.6 billion euros annually for the former supplementary and special pensions of the GDR. In GDR times there were 27 supplementary pension systems for individual professional groups, including members of the National People’s Army, customs and state security.
The federal government is basically ready to make one billion euros available, Schneider announced. However, he does not want to anticipate the negotiations at the moment. However, the Eastern Commissioner made it clear: “I would like the law to be in place this year.”
Schneider, who comes from Erfurt, has been the Federal Government’s Eastern Commissioner and Minister of State in the Chancellery since the end of 2021. Before that, the 46-year-old was parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group and for many years its budgetary politician.
