Competition : Germany

It is crucial for Germany’s future as an attractive location for business and industry that its firms keep abreast of international competition, which is increasingly becoming a high-tech race. Only in this way can high “exchangeable value” in international trade be achieved and jobs and incomes in Germany be safeguarded. To accomplish this, however, business and industry as well as society must be willing to undergo structural change; firms must concentrate on areas of technological and industrial growth.

As a country with high income levels and a high standard of social security but few natural resources, Germany has always had to rely on exports of top quality, advanced products. Modern technologies, efficient and economical production methods, and efficient company organizational structures form the foundation for the nation’s competitiveness.

Sectors Of The Economy : Germany

Industry

The mainstay of the German economy is industry. In 1996 the approximately 47,000 industrial enterprises in Germany employed close to 6.5 million people. However, industry’s importance has declined considerably in recent years as a result of structural change; its share of the gross value added by all economic sectors fell from 51.7 percent in 1970 (old federal states) to 33.4 percent in 1996 (Germany as a whole). In the same period the public and private service sectors increased their share considerably. In the year 1996 private services accounted for 37.5 percent of the gross value added, commerce and transport 1 3.8 percent. Rapidly expanding branches like information and communications technologies or fields such as the aerospace industry (which is itself suffering from a considerable drop in employment) have failed to compensate for the decline of such traditional branches as textiles and steel.

Only about 1.7 percent of industrial enterprises are large companies with more than 1,000 employees; nearly three quarters are firms with fewer than 100 on the payroll. Thus the great majority of industrial enterprises in Germany are of small or medium size. However, about 32 percent (2.2 million) of the total work force in the industrial sector are employed by firms with more than 1,000 employees. Siemens alone, for instance, employs 373,000. The relatively small number of big companies account for just under 40 percent of industry’s total turnover.

Waste Management And Soil Protection : Germany

In October 1996, the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act entered into force. This Act represents a departure from the tradition of waste disposal, focusing instead on the concept of recycling so that raw materials and resources are effectively conserved, low-waste products are developed, and thus in the long term the entire consumption and production system is restructured into a closed substance cycle. Through a broadened definition of waste it deals with all operations in the production and consumption chain which are of relevance to waste disposal and lays down requirements for waste avoidance, the reuse of waste materials in other products or as a source of energy, as well as environmentally compatible disposal. It zeroes in on the “polluter pays” principle and the concept of product responsibility.

Waste avoidance and the recycling of waste is very important to a country like Germany which has few raw materials.The principle of product responsibility was legally established for the first time through the Packaging Ordinance, which obligates manufacturers and distributors of packaging materials to take back their products after use and recycle them. In 1992 the businesses and industries involved created the private-sector “Duales System Deutschland” (DSD, or “Green Dot”), which has taken over the job of collecting used packaging materials from consumers and recyling usable materials.

Nature Conservation And Sustainable Use Of Nature : Germany

The general objective of the Federal Government’s nature conservation policy is to safeguard biological diversity, both because it is a foundation of human life and because we have a responsibility to preserve creation. In addition to the diversity of species, biological diversity includes the diversity of habitats and the genetic diversity within the populations of a particular species. The amendment to the Federal Nature Conservation Act spells out the aims and principles of this policy. Of the approximately one million wild animal species and nearly 400,000 wild plant species thus far identified worldwide, nearly 45,000 animal species and some 28,000 plant species are found in Germany.

The pool of species is generally declining. 50 percent of the vertebrate species in Germany are classified as endangered; five percent are registered as extinct. A third of all plant species are also considered threatened or extinct. The main causes of the decline of species are:

>the strains on and destruction of habitats, for example from the spread of human settlements and transport networks and from the old agricultural practice of “clearing” landscapes;

Reactor Safety And Radiation Protection : Germany

As an industrial nation, Germany is dependent on a secure energy supply. Energy production, however, must be ecologically sound and conserve resources. The use of nuclear energy has the advantage that - in contrast to the burning me eiuiiujr Environmental protection of coal, oil or gas - virtually no pollutants are emitted which are detrimental to the climate. The basis for safety measures for nuclear power plants in Germany is the Act on the Peaceful Utilization of Atomic Energy and the Protection against its Hazards (Atomic Energy Act). It mandates high safety requirements for the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants as well as for the disposal of radioactive waste.

In the course of the licensing procedure, operators of nuclear power plants must prove that in the event of potential malfunctions, the repercussions on the environment fall within the maximum limits stipulated in the Radiation Protection Ordinance. The Act obligates them to ensure that radioactive waste is reprocessed disposed of in a manner that will cause no harm. Pmtprtinn suDDorts The Federal Office for Radiation Protection supports the Federal Government in monitoring application of the Atomic Energy Act.
The use of ionizing rays such as Xrays as well the handling of radioactive materials in research, technology and the field of medicine are subject to strict maximum limits stipulated not only in the Atomic Energy Act but also in the Act on the Precautionary Protection of the Population against Radiation Exposure, the Radiation Protection Ordinance and the XRays Ordinance. Since the beginning of 1997, protection has also been provided against non-ionizing radiation by the Electro-smog Ordinance.

Measures To Prevent Flooding : Germany

As a result of the extraordinary flooding that occurred along the Rhine and the Mosel in 1993/1994 and in January 1995 - and most recently along the Oder in July 1997 - flood prevention measures have commanded greater public attention than ever before. An environmentally sound flood prevention policy focuses especially on limitation of the sealing of soil, improvement of local capabilities for retention and absorption of precipitation, greatest possible renaturation of rivercourses, as well as safeguarding and enlargement of flood plains. The Federal Water Act as amended on 19 November 1996 mandates the creation of flood plains along rivercourses and authorizes the states to determine their location.

Wherever possible, former flood plains are to be reclaimed. Under no circumstances may enlargement of waterways increase the danger of flooding. The administrative authorities concerned as well as the bodies of the Lander Working Group on Water, the International Commission for the Protection of the River Rhine and the European Union are presently developing measures to help diminish the harmful effects of flooding. These include flood retention measures in catchment areas as well as recommendations for appropriate behavior on the part of those affected. In the case of transnational watercourses, all countries bordering them must act together. In the context of the International Commission for the Protection of the River Rhine, a flood action plan is being drafted which is to be completed before the end of 1997. After the catastrophic flooding along the Oder in July 1997, Germany strongly favors a similar joint action plan involving Poland, the Czech Republic and the EU.

Protection Of Rivers, Lakes And Seas : Germany

Major improvements have also been achieved in protecting rivers, lakes and seas through the introduction of tougher legislation on the discharge of waste water and the construction of new, especially biological, sewage treatment facilities by industrial firms and municipalities. These regulations were designed to prevent organic pollution of surface waters in particular. In the early 1970s, heavily polluted rivers like the Rhine and the Main had suffered a drastic decline in the diversity of species they contained, but today, as a result of improvements in water quality, they once again have nearly as many species as they did in the 1920s.

However, many of the rivers and lakes in the new federal states - despite noticeable improvements - still need further cleansing. The Waste Water Charges Act has played a key role in the protection of rivers and lakes by spurring municipalities and industry to sharply reduce pollutants and nutrients in waste water. There is still much work to be done to reduce water pollution caused by inputs of nutrients, especially those stemming from crop fertilization, and of poorly degradable plant protection agents. An important step towards reducing nutrient inputs from agricultural operations was the adoption of the Fertilizer Ordinance, which since January 1996 has more closely defined the principles of “good agricultural practice” in fertilization.

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