Concluding a rather unusual alliance, the new leader of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) – Ingo Kramer – and the leader of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) – Michael Sommer – called, on January 21 in a joint statement, on the government parties to take the heat out of the debate on “poverty immigration,” which has been firing up spirits in Germany since the labor market fully opened to Bulgarian and Romanian workers on January 1. According to the social partners, this controversy, caused by the CSU – the Bavarian ally of Angela Merkel’s party – threatens to revive anti-European feelings just before the European election in May and repel skilled foreign workers, which the German economy desperately needs. This issue should be addressed by the conservative (CDU/CSU) and social-democratic (SPD) ministers gathered on January 22-23 for a working session in the Meseberg castle (north of Berlin).
Heightened anti-European feelings. Since the end of the “employment pact” in 2003, joint initiatives between the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations and the Confederation of German Trade Unions have been very rare and only in case of an intense issue. And for good reason: according to the social partners, the controversy sparked off by the CSU (which isn’t expressly named but clearly aimed at) on the risks of massive influx of Bulgarian and Romanian citizens coming mostly to enjo
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