(upbeat music)
Peter, thanks very much for joining us here.
As a veteran of German politics,
you have, of course, seen multiple crises.
So, what kind of crisis are we actually facing?
For the first time in years,
we are facing several challenges at a time.
As far as energy security is concerned,
the ending of the war of Russia against Ukraine.
But at the same time, disruptive challenges
with regard to technological innovation,
with regard to political developments,
and, of course, with regard to climate change.
And you've been in politics 27 years,
so you have lived through a lot of these crises.
What's the role of politics
versus the private sector to mitigate the fallout?
Well, we are, for the second time within five years,
at the brink of recession.
This time, I believe it will be a little bit less severe
than the COVID-19 recession,
but still a huge challenge for many countries in Europe.
Therefore, we have to act in a coordinated way.
I would like the European Union playing
a crucial role on the global scene, international scene.
We have to involve the Americans,
the Canadians, the Australians, our allies in NATO,
and then I believe we can overcome this crisis
much quicker, much faster than we have done in the past.
You've mentioned convergence in Europe,
but we also see some political and nationalism,
let's say, trends in Europe happening.
What's the remedy for that? Is it a carbon border tax?
Europe is able to play an important role
on a global level as long as it is united.
And a second point is that we have to support industries,
whereas the decarbonization process
will produce more costs than in countries
where this is not the case.
When you have steel producers
and you want to produce green steel,
then you will stand the global competition
with countries not yet decarbonizing
only if you find a mechanism.
And this can be either an international agreement,
with the same rules for everybody
and it's the same steps for decarbonization,
or a mechanism like a border adjustment tax
or a border adjustment levy.
And this has to be very clear,
it's in the interest of the European industrial strategy.
Very good, final question.
What makes you optimistic,
and what's your advice to our CFOs going forward?
Lessons learned from the past indicate
that Europe has been more successful in
overcoming economic crisis than other regions in the world.
I believe in our human capital.
Almost all European countries
have invested more in education,
in research, and in academic life.
This pays back, and, therefore, I'm optimistic for the future.
But we have to realize time is running out
and we have to deliver.
And, therefore, I would like to encourage
our successors not to slow down
but to accelerate, even, our efforts
to mitigate climate change.
Mr. Altmaier, thank you very much
for sharing your thoughts here.
Thank you.