German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Talks Security in Europe

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We want to get right to an important conversation with the Chancellor of Germany, Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, with Friedrich Merz. Right now, the Germany Investment Summit, starting with the question, why Germany?

Friedrich Merz (0:21)

This is true, we are seeing the first investment summit, at this sort, in Germany, today and tomorrow. And more than 200 investors from the world has agreed to come to Germany, and this is a clear signal that they don't overestimate what is happening politically here in Germany.

Francine Lacqua (0:41)

But they're worried about extremes. So what do you tell them to reassure?

Friedrich Merz (0:44)

Yeah, we are all worried about what is happening in the world, which is not just Germany. We are seeing extremists in many parts of the world. Most democracies are affected by that. So we are trying to convince our people that the political center is still able to resolve the problems of our country. And that's what the government is doing.

Francine Lacqua (1:03)

But Chancellor, you yourself are in a pretty fragile coalition. So again, what is the main message to investors that think about putting millions, if not billions, in Germany?

Friedrich Merz (1:12)

Thanks to your estimate that this coalition is fragile. We are having a very stable majority in parliament. This is, by the way, not the case in many European countries.

We are seeing minority governments in several member states of the European Union and beyond. So we are having a stable government and we are doing our work. And we are now in office for 17 months plus, some days. And within this period of time, we have brought several legislation through our parliament. So this is going into the right direction.

Francine Lacqua (1:51)

Chancellor, what are your three top priorities from now, in the next six months, to make Germany attractive?

Friedrich Merz (1:58)

First of all, this summit is important to give this clear signal that Germany is ready for AI, for industrial AI, which is extremely important for us as a country with manufacturing and with many companies who are relying on new technologies.

Second point is we have to reform our social security systems. We are on the way to do that. And the third point is keep the European Union on track and stable, and that's the reason why I'm so committed to European policy.

Francine Lacqua (2:33)

Chancellor, we heard from the Nvidia CEO just last week, who is in London, saying that actually nothing hurts him more than seeing Germany. That was one prowess of technology falling behind. How can Europe and Germany blow?

Friedrich Merz (2:44)

Well, he will be with me on the stage tonight, and we will exactly debate these preconditions of investment in Germany. And I very much hope that they will stick to what they promised. We will have a joint declaration between the company and the German government in terms of investing in Germany. And as far as I can see, this company is really investing billions in our country.

Francine Lacqua (3:10)

Do you think Germany and Europe in general can really bloom if it's stuck between the US and China?

Friedrich Merz (3:17)

Well, I have to confess that I was a little bit cautious on using this word when Emmanuel Macron spoke about it in the early 2017, when he came to office. And he used this word of sovereignty, European sovereignty. And in the meantime, I share that. We can really catch up. We can really do that.

We are a big market, 450 million consumers, which is 100 million more than the United States of America. So we have something to offer. And we are, in the meantime, self-conscious enough to say, yes, we can catch up, and we will do that.

Francine Lacqua (3:58)

How?

Friedrich Merz (3:59)

Well, by investment, by cutting back red tape, which is one of the biggest challenges for us on the European level and on the national level as well, and by organizing such a summit tonight and tomorrow, inviting investors to come to Germany and showing them that this is a really high-ranking technology-oriented country.

Francine Lacqua (4:23)

Chancellor, Europe is basically funding a lot of US growth, right? I think more than 300 billion is going to fund some of the growth with investments in the US. I think 50 billion is also buying US treasuries.

Is that money, can that money just be kept in Europe?

Friedrich Merz (4:40)

The answer is yes, provided we are creating a real integrated capital market in Europe. And that's something we are debating on for decades now, and we are trying to come to solutions within the European Union on the European level. We had this on the agenda last Thursday and Friday when we met in Brussels for our European Councils meeting.