The European Commission does not want Siemens and Alstom to merge their railway lines. But with this policy, Europe’s industry will soon fall behind China.
There’s a lot to comment this week. The drama in London about the Brexit – hard, gentle or not at all. The signing of a Franco-German friendship treaty in Aachen – a renewal of the Elysée agreement signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer 56 years ago, intended as a signal of departure in the tattered European Union. Or the New York Times report on Donald Trump’s disturbing threat to leave NATO – marking the end of the institutionalized Atlantic Community after 70 years.
All important issues. But no less important is another: the question of whether Europe is capable and willing to assert itself in the dawning Chinese century.
This question is currently being asked on the occasion of a rather minor competition decision of the European Commission. The Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager – whose tough stance against America, Apple and Facebook or Gazprom finds general approval – wants to veto the merger of the rail technology divisions of Siemens and Alstom in February. It is supported by the antitrust authorities of the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain and Belgium, but also by the Bundeskartellamt in Bonn.
However, this would be an absolutely wrong, narrow-minded, petty-minded decision. In order to win the competition in Europe, it would throw the Chinese state enterprise China Railroad Rolling Stock corporation (CRRC) the victory in the competition in the world market in the throat – in the end also in Europe.
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The CRRC, founded in 2015 by the merger of several companies, is now the largest train manufacturer in the world. Their sales far exceed the total sales of Siemens and Alstom. So far, 90 percent of them are in China, but the group’s stated goal is to increase exports and conquer the international market, including in Europe. The EU Competition Commissioner considers this to be „currently unlikely“. That is a rather inoffensive view. Siemens could sing a song to the wise Dane, as CRRC has made big in the People’s Republic and then rudely marginalized.
The Chinese have set out to catch up and overtake us. Their master plan Made in China 2025 is a gigantic development program, which is to depend on the old industrialized countries until the middle of the next decade. Ten key lines are to be hitherto lifted to the top of the world: information technology, robotics, aerospace, marine and shipbuilding, alternative automotive drives, power generation, new materials, agricultural machinery, biomedicine and medical technology, and finally high-speed rail. The state is using the future global champions with funding in the amount of many hundred billion euros under the arms.
China’s railroad now has not only the longest high-speed network in the world, about 30,000 kilometers, the People’s Republic also produces most of the trains. In addition, the Chinese are building tens of thousands of kilometers of railroads around the globe – in Southeast Asia, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Africa and Latin America, not least in the Balkans. And of course, CRRC delivers the rolling stock. Their rail vehicles are exported to over a hundred countries – even the United States. Even the Deutsche Bahn ordered shunting locomotives with hybrid drive in the People’s Republic. CRRC also wants to roll up the European market. The EU can not allow that.
