German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a Guest Column at ADAC Magazine (Germany's leading automobile club) identifies Measures for the 2009 Economy

ADAC Motorwelt is the club magazine of the ADAC, Germany's and Europe's leading automobile club with over 16 million members.

The January 2009 print issue (accessible digitally online only to members) of ADAC Motorwelt contains a guest column by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor (the Chancellor is the CEO of the government), in which Merkel talks about the measures taken by the German government to deal with the 2009 economic recession, especially from the standpoint of automobile owners.

Perhaps the title of her column says it all, "Unser Land is robust" (Our Land is Robust).

Merkel points out that Germany has thus far not been as largely affected by the current financial credit crisis as other countries, because the German economy is very robust, not only due to the strength of innovation of its industry and the motivation and work-readiness of its work force, but also because of government programs which have focused on investment, reorganization and reform. Unemployment is down and Germany touts itself as the world's leading exporter.

Nevertheless, the current economic recession is also being felt in German exports.

Concrete measures have been taken to bridge the recession gap, including improvement of financial conditions for economic enterprises, by tax incentives and by more funds for the CO2 Building Renovation Program.

As far as car owners are concerned, investment in the expansion and modernization of streets and highways will increase in Germany in the next two years by two billion Euros to more than 11 billion Euros, thereby improving not only the traffic infrastructure but also providing many jobs in the construction industry.

The automobile industry is being supported by special measures geared to improve the sale of more modern and more environmentally friendly motor vehicles.

Anyone buying a new motor vehicle in Germany up to June 30, 2009 will be exempted from the payment of motor vehicle taxes for at least one year, and the exemption is extended to the end of the year 2010 if the car fulfills the Euro-5 or Euro-6 emission standards.

LawPundit posted previously about the necessity for America to learn from Europe in this economic sector, and as regards the recession, Germany is again leading the way.