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Business Wire
3 hours ago
- Business
- Business Wire
VDMA Forecast 2025: German Robotics and Automation Faces Ten Percent Revenue Drop
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The robotics and automation industry in Germany is expected to generate total sales of €14.5 billion in 2025. This is a drop of ten percent compared to the previous year. VDMA Forecast 2025: German Robotics and Automation Faces Ten Percent Revenue Drop Share 'The revenue weakness announced at the start of the year has been confirmed in our current forecast for 2025,' says Dr. Dietmar Ley, Chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation. 'Growth prospects are currently clouded in all subsectors through the end of the year.' Robotics + Automation: The Three Subsectors The Machine Vision subsector is stagnating with zero growth and is expected to generate industry revenues of €3.1 billion. The forecast for robotics has slightly worsened from minus 3 percent to minus 5 percent, with expected revenues of €3.7 billion for 2025. The sharpest decline is anticipated for Automated Solutions, with a projected revenue drop of 15 percent to €7.7 billion. Strengthening Competitiveness Key causes of the economic weakness in Europe and Germany include postponed investment plans due to current geopolitical tensions and increasing competitive pressure from Asian rivals. Companies in the robotics and automation industry are therefore working hard to strengthen their own competitiveness. At the world's leading marketplace for automated production, automatica in Munich (June 24–27), the latest technologies and trends for all industrial sectors will be presented. 'VDMA Robotics Action Plan for Europe' 'Robotics and automation are key technologies without which industrial production in a high-wage country like Germany will no longer be conceivable in the future,' says Dr. Dietmar Ley. 'Politics and business must now take concerted action to reduce location-based disadvantages in international competition and set the course for renewed growth.' To this end, the 'VDMA Robotics Action Plan for Europe' sets out three core demands: Make more venture capital available for startups and scale-ups. Establish a roadmap for competitiveness. Focus specifically on scaling up European innovation. In addition, the investment support announced by the new German government must now be swiftly implemented. A political dialogue on these topics will take place during Poland's EU Council Presidency on June 23, 2025, at the Polish Embassy in Berlin.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How Brexit helped Poland become a European superpower
For Natalia Muszynska, the daughter of a Polish supermarket worker in Scotland, the journey home began with an internet search. Despite studying business management at college in Aberdeen, she was finding it almost impossible to line up an internship. Then inspiration struck. 'I switched to a Polish advertising site, typed in 'internships', and thousands of options came up, including paid ones,' said Ms Muszynska, who moved to Britain with her mother shortly after Poland joined the EU in 2004, along with around a million other Poles seeking higher wages in the UK. Curious about whether life in Poland now had more to offer, she relocated to Warsaw, joining hundreds of thousands of Poles who have moved back to their home country as it emerges on the world stage as an economic juggernaut and Slavic superpower. After decades of suffering under communism, its economy is booming. It boasts a bigger army than Britain, France or Germany, and Donald Tusk, its centrist prime minister, is a former EU Council president who wields immense influence in Brussels. At the same time, a metro ticket costs as little as 60p, a pint of beer will set you back less than £3, and the overall cost of living remains low in European league tables. Britain – or perhaps, the decline of Britain, in the eyes of some Poles – has played a role in this success story. The number of Poles in the UK has fallen from a peak of around a million to 700,000 in the wake of Brexit, and Poland is reaping the reward. Ms Muszynska says she is a 'prime example of this'. Not long after returning home, she started her own property business and was living in a flat with underfloor heating that she could only dream of having in Aberdeen. 'There are so many opportunities here – it's the fastest growing place in Europe,' she said. 'My mum moved to the UK because she couldn't find a job in Poland. I came back to Poland because I thought: this is the biggest opportunity ever.' This Sunday, Poles face a choice that will define their country's place in Europe as they head to the polls for presidential elections. Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw and Mr Tusk's preferred candidate, is in a neck-and-neck race with the hardline conservative Karol Nawrocki. Experts say membership of the European Union is by far the biggest contributor to the country's triumph, opening up free movement for Polish workers across the continent and full access to the EU's lucrative single market. Since joining the bloc in 2004, the country is yet to experience recession, excluding a blip at the height of the Covid pandemic, while GDP has risen by four per cent on average each year. This year alone, a 3.3 per cent increase in GDP is expected, compared to just one per cent in the UK. But with hundreds of thousands of young workers being lured back by the promise of a better life, Poland has also benefited from Britain's struggles. Aleks Szczerbiak, a Polish politics expert and professor at Sussex University, said the return of Poles could also be linked to a sense that 2004's mass exodus was doing more harm than good in the long run. 'Access to western labour markets was one of the reasons EU membership was, and still is, so popular,' he said. 'But that quickly went from being the greatest achievement to being seen as a kind of sign of failure. Poles felt that in order to earn a decent salary they had to go abroad, and work at a level way below their qualifications. 'You had Poles with PhDs serving coffee in Starbucks because it paid more in the UK than Poland, and so there has been an effort to get people back.' After two decades of EU free movement, the Polish government is posting adverts online urging citizens to return home: 'New Year's resolution to make: come back to Poland!' states one recent advert, which promises 'a flourishing economy, attractive salaries and a safe environment'. One of the main draws is Warsaw itself, a city of 1.8 million people where skyscrapers, tech start-ups and trendy cafes serving French toast have replaced the old, urban sprawl of Soviet buildings. Warsaw's most famous landmark used to be the Palace of Culture and Science, an imposing high-rise built in the Stalinist style in 1955. After the fall of Communism in 1989, its dedications to Stalin were scrubbed from the colonnade and lobby, while a new skyscraper – Varso Tower, the tallest in the EU – now rises above the city. Middle-class neighbourhoods are also springing up in Warsaw, offering a Slavic version of Notting Hill or Knightsbridge to successful Poles heeding the government's call to return home. In Zoliborz, northern Warsaw, gleaming white new-build apartment blocks have risen over flagstone courtyards and water fountains, with flat prices ranging from 600,000 to 1.9 million Polish zloty (£120,000-£375,000). BMWs fill many parking spaces. Robert, a construction firm owner and resident of Zoliborz, described the transition of Warsaw over the past two decades as 'shocking to witness'. 'Our parents had, let's say, a mid-range quality of life, but we are an extremely hard-working nation and we have earned what we have now,' he said. 'You can see that we're building a lot in Warsaw, and there is more to do.' Robert, 35, who did not wish to share his last name, added that when he started his construction firm a decade ago, he struggled to find workers – they had all moved to Britain and Germany. Now the reverse is the case – he is the one taking phone calls from Poles who have returned and are seeking work from him. 'And when the Germans visit, they are impressed by the phone signal,' he jokes, alluding to Berlin's outdated telecoms infrastructure. The famously fierce Polish work ethic still has its admirers in Britain, such as Daniel Kawczynski, the former Conservative MP, who viewed Brexit as an opportunity to deepen British-Polish relations. 'I remember going back to Poland in 1983, when martial law was lifted, to see my beloved grandfather,' said Mr Kawczynski, who was born in Warsaw and served as the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham from 2005 to 2024. 'At that time there was nothing in the shops, petrol was rationed and the Communist system was politically Orwellian and economically illiterate. Now Poland is set to overtake the United Kingdom as an economy, and it's down to the fundamental principle that Polish people are driven to work hard, as hard as they can, and put into the system.' No account of Poland's rise can overlook the moment when Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24 2022. Poland immediately opened its border to nine million refugees, and that was only the beginning of its support for Kyiv. When Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, told Western allies, 'I don't need a ride [out of Ukraine] – I need ammunition,' Poland was among the first to step forward. To date, Poland has provided 47 military support packages to Kyiv's forces, ranging from hundreds of T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, to combat helicopters, artillery systems and vast amounts of ammunition. Whichever candidate is elected, Poland's role as a leading EU supporter of Ukraine is set to continue, due to widespread public support for arming Kyiv against Russian invaders. But the invasion also prompted massive rearmament of Poland's own armed forces: Poland's annual defence spending stood at 2.7 per cent of GDP in 2022 but is set to reach 4.7 per cent later this year – tantalisingly close to the new 5 per cent Nato target, which prior to Putin's invasion was considered a mere pipe dream. That rapid increase of military spending began under the Right-wing Law and Justice leader Mateusz Morawiecki, and continues under Mr Tusk, who came to power in 2023, in a country where there is near-universal consensus for giving significant military support to Ukraine. That sentiment is largely fuelled by geography, with Poland sharing a long border with both Ukraine and close Putin ally Belarus, but also by a historical revulsion towards Russian authoritarianism. Mr Tusk himself is a former president of the European Council of EU national leaders in Brussels. His critics in Poland, who tend to be Eurosceptic, though not to the extent of wanting to see a 'Polexit,' say this makes him too close to the Brussels elite – perhaps so close that he no longer represents Polish national interests. But Mr Tusk's supporters argue that this deep knowledge of the EU and its institutions makes him the right leader to hold maximum leverage over the bloc, particularly when it comes to contentious issues such as mass migration or farming subsidies. Not everyone in Poland feels comfortable with its nascent superpower status, as reflected in an Economist editorial this week hailing its 'remarkable rise'. One Polish industry source, who did not wish to be named, said that behind the effusive headlines about his country there lurked deep concerns about the economic future. They cited as one example the significant decline in birth rates since 2017, from 1.48 to 1.26, as a sign that there could be a missing generation of workers in two decades. There are also concerns on the Eurosceptic wings of Polish politics that too much sovereignty has been ceded to Brussels. Poland – which since joining the EU in 2004 has received €246 billion (£200 billion) from the EU budget – is set to become a net contributor to that budget in future, rather than a recipient. That could create a dynamic where Poles feel they are putting far more value into the EU than what they receive in return, similar to sentiment in pre-Brexit Britain and in Germany, the biggest net contributor to EU funds. 'You can't really say everything is perfect when nearly half the country is set to vote for Karol Nawrocki', the Polish industry source said, referring to the Right-wing, Trump-esque candidate in Sunday's presidential elections. Opinion polls suggest the result will be extremely close, with 46 per cent backing Mr Nawrocki against 47 per cent for Mr Trzaskowski. Beyond economics, politics and the military, Poland is also gaining significant soft power in the arts world. The fantasy role-playing video game The Witcher 3, one of the most critically acclaimed and lucrative worldwide, was developed in Warsaw. The fame of CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher 3, is so widespread that fans travel from across the world to pay homage at its offices, tucked away on an industrial estate in the north-east of the capital. Inside, a statue of The Witcher's silver-haired protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, greets visitors who have flown in to experience the country that produced their favourite video game. 'It's amazing to see fans from around the world come to Warsaw just to visit our studio,' said Jan Rosner, its vice-president of business development. 'The fact that our office has become a destination for them is a testament to the passion our community brings. It truly means the world to us.' The $5.1 billion studio is now working on a sequel, The Witcher 4, already one of the most hotly anticipated game releases worldwide. And the games have also raised the profile of Polish culture, as they are based on local folklore and the fantasy novels of Andrzej Sapkowski, the Polish author, who was virtually unknown outside of the country prior to the release of The Witcher 3. Now he is widely considered as the Slavic successor to JRR Tolkien. As a result, the studio is among the most striking examples of Poland's rise on the world stage. Two decades ago, when Poland joined the EU, some young Britons would have moaned that the plumbers of Poland were taking their jobs. Now they are getting on planes to Warsaw so they can pose for selfies with a statue of a Polish monster-slayer. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wheat shipment arrives in Syria as EU passes legislation to lift sanctions
A vessel carrying 28,500 tonnes of wheat has docked at the Syrian port of Tartous, marking one of the first major trade deliveries since the European Union and the United States lifted their economic sanctions on the nation, recovering from nearly 14 years of civil war and economic devastation. The move comes after the EU Council passed legislation on Wednesday that formalised the bloc's decision to end restrictive measures against Syria. The political decision was agreed upon by EU foreign ministers last week and follows a similar announcement by the United States earlier this month. Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdel Wahed, reporting from Damascus, said, 'There is no detail about the origin of the shipment, but we know this has a crucial significance for the Syrian people and the government. 'This is an indication the country can be re-integrated into the international community, that trade and commerce can be reactivated and an indication that the country, in the aftermath of the release of international sanctions, can be re-connected to the international financial system.' The lifting of sanctions is expected to accelerate the reconstruction of Syria's infrastructure and economy. Syrian banks, including the Central Bank of Syria, now have renewed access to European financial foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas welcomed the move, reaffirming Europe's 'commitment' to helping Syrians rebuild a 'new, inclusive, peaceful Syria'. 'This decision is simply the right thing to do, at this historic time, for the EU to genuinely support Syria's recovery and a political transition that fulfils the aspirations of all Syrians,' Kallas said. Sanctions previously imposed by the EU and the US targeted the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown in a lightning rebel offensive, led by the now-interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in December. The measures had effectively shut Syria out of global trade and banking systems, severely restricting access to goods and investment. Al-Sharaa had lobbied for the sanctions to be removed as part of broader efforts to stabilise and rebuild the nation. Despite easing trade restrictions, the European Council has extended asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and entities associated with the former al-Assad government until June 1, 2026. It also imposed new measures under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, targeting two individuals and three entities for what it described as 'severe human rights violations'.
Euronews
6 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Spain fails again to secure unanimity to make Catalan an EU language
Spain has failed to obtain the necessary unanimity to elevate Catalan, Galician and Basque into official languages of the European Union, as several member states raised concerns over the administrative and legal implications of such an unprecedented move. The result materialised during a meeting of EU affairs ministers on Tuesday, where the issue was scheduled to be put to a formal vote. As the debate progressed, it became evident the reservations in the room were enough to prevent consensus. "There was a large number of countries willing to support (the request) but there was a minority who asked for more time, and we decided to grant it," said Pilar Alegría, the chief spokesperson of the central government in Madrid. "We're going to continue working and discussing." The request dates back to 2023, when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez secured the support of Catalan separatist lawmakers, who hold a small but crucial number of seats in the Spanish parliament, to form a minority government. As part of the investiture deal, Sánchez promised to bring to Brussels a proposal to amend Regulation 1/1958 and turn Catalan, Galician and Basque into official EU languages. The backing of regional parties has become more pressing after Sánchez unveiled a new budget with a steep hike in defence spending that needs the parliament's blessing. As of today, Regulation 1/1958 recognises 24 languages. The designation implies the translation of every legal act, including the daily publication of the official journal, and real-time interpretation during debates in the EU Council and the European Parliament. A first attempt to change the regulation was swiftly rejected in September 2023, despite Madrid offering to pay in full for the additional expenses. The fiasco prompted months of behind-the-scenes negotiations to convince the reluctant countries and secure the required unanimity. Spain asked for the issue be put on the agenda on Tuesday morning, even if the arithmetic looked very uncertain in the lead up to the ministerial meeting. On arrival in Brussels, Joakim Strand, Finland's minister for European affairs, cast doubt over the request, arguing the issue was not "mature yet". "There are still some concerns that have been (raised) also by the Council legal service, and I think that's something we need to take very seriously," Strand told reporters. "I think linguistic diversity is important, and we're always constructive, and we want to continue the discussion." Sweden's Jessica Rosencrantz and Austria's Claudia Plakolm also highlighted the importance of respecting the EU's diversity, but echoed the concerns about the financial and legal implications that the triple designation would entail. The European Commission previously estimated the cost to be €132 million per year, with Catalan, Galician and Basque costing €44 million each. The assessment was preliminary, based on the past experience with Gaelic in Ireland. Spain's domestic settlement on language is unique in Europe. Under the country's constitution, enacted in 1978 after the end of the military dictatorship, the three languages gained co-official status in the regions where they are spoken and enjoy the same legal standing as Castilian. Catalan is spoken by more than 9 million people across Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, as well as Andorra. Galician is a distant second, with around 2.5 million speakers in Galicia, the northwest corner of Spain. The Basque language or Euskara, which does not originate from Latin, is spoken by over 750,000 people in the Basque Country and Navarra, and also in the bordering areas of southern France. "This is not a matter of translating more or less documents, it is a matter of respecting the identity of European citizens," Catalonia President Salvador Illa told Euronews in February during an official visit to Brussels. "This is not, let's say, a political issue, or a political demand. I would put it from another angle. This is a fair measure from a linguistic point of view. There are 20 million citizens that speak these official languages." The European Commission plans to make it easier to send asylum seekers for processing beyond the bloc's borders by revising the concept of a "safe third country". Under current EU immigration rules, member states can transfer asylum seekers to a non-EU country that is considered safe, but only if the migrants have a connection with the nation in question, such as a previous visit or family connection. A new proposal, announced by the Commission last week as part of a wider overhaul of asylum procedures, said that requirement should be removed. Critics say this mirrors a plan by the previous UK government to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was scrapped after being ruled unlawful by the country's Supreme Court. However, German MEP Lena Düpont, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who supports the proposal, argued that it sends the right message. Data from the European Commission showed that, every year, at least 400,000 foreign nationals without the right to stay in the EU are ordered to leave. However, only around 20% of them are effectively returned. Meanwhile, NGOs and migration experts said the proposal raises serious concerns about guaranteeing fundamental human rights, and could burden poorer nations. "Far from it being chaotic and arbitrary to send people to countries to which they have no connection, no prospects, no support, we also see that as fundamentally devastating on a human level," said Olivia Sundberg Diez, Amnesty International's EU advocate for migration and asylum. "It ignores a person's agency, and therefore we don't consider that it can be reasonable to expect them to remain there. This cannot be a sustainable solution," she added. The proposal follows another motion from the Commission called "Safe Origin Countries", which was put forward last month. It said that asylum requests of migrants coming from EU candidate countries, such as Turkey and Georgia, and seven other countries deemed "safe", could be fast-tracked as they are "unlikely to be successful". Some EU member states, including Italy and Greece, already have a national register of safe countries of origin, but the proposed EU list aims to support a more uniform system, according to the Commission. "The aim is to improve both the processing of asylum claims when they can be seen as manifestly unfounded for various reasons. And at the same time, make sure that those who do not have a right to stay within the European Union, but are already here, are effectively returned," said Düpont, the German MEP. Human rights groups have questioned whether some of the countries on the list should really be considered safe. For example, the list includes Egypt, where, according to Human Rights Watch, the authorities systematically detain and punish critics and activists, and persecute LGBTQ+ people. The Commission has presented the list as a "dynamic" one that can be expanded or modified over time, and said that nations that no longer fulfil the criteria will be removed. "This increases the risks of arbitrary, automatic detention in countries far from the EU," said Sundberg Diez of Amnesty. "We've already seen in the EU's existing engagement with countries like Tunisia [with which the EU has a memorandum of understanding] that it simply doesn't have the ability or the interest in monitoring and enforcing human rights protections." She stressed that the proposals the Commission has put forward since March all have the same intention, "which is making it harder for people to access safety in Europe and shifting that responsibility to offer protection to countries far from the bloc". Düpont disagreed with this take. "Both proposals share the aim to make asylum and return procedures more efficient, more effective, but of course, also more implementable for the member states, so that we can kind of bring back order and humanity to the common European asylum and migration policies," she said. The proposals will be heard by the European Parliament and the European Council. This will be followed by talks to agree on a common text, which will eventually become law.
Euronews
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
EU elections Super Sunday shows centre-left parties remain in freefall
European leaders have been quick to congratulate centrist Nicusor Dan on Sunday's dramatic victory in Romania's presidential election over his hard-right rival George Simion. Dan won 53.6% of the vote, ahead of Simion, who during the campaign portrayed his movement as championing nationalist values and conservative policies similar to those of US President Donald Trump. By contrast, Dan — the pro-EU and pro-NATO mayor of Bucharest — had vowed to keep the nation in the European mainstream and maintain support for neighbouring Ukraine. His win is a huge relief for the EU and Ukraine at a time of crucial challenges for Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered support to build "an open and prosperous Romania in a strong Europe". EU Council President Antonio Costa said the result showed "a strong signal of Romanians' attachment to the European project". Jean-Michel De Waele, a political scientist at the ULB University in Brussels, told Euronews that only time will tell if this proves a setback for European nationalists, but stressed that leaders cannot ignore the anger of the anti-establishment voters. "There are many problems to be solved. And the citizens of the European Union in this part (of Europe) are not convinced by the EU," he said. "After all, 46% of Romanian citizens voted for Simion. So the EU can rejoice, but it must not forget and must not say: 'We understood the message, we will change the communication. Business as usual'." Parallel to Romania, Poland and Portugal went to the polls on what turned out to be the European elections' Super Sunday. In Poland, pro-European candidate Rafał Trzaskowski won the first round, ahead of conservative Karol Nawrocki. The pair will face each other in a runoff on 1 June. In Portugal, the ruling centre-right AD alliance won snap parliamentary elections yet fell short of a majority, while the far-right Chega made record gains. Meanwhile, the left-leaning PS lost 20 seats in parliament, resulting in the resignation of party leader Pedro Nuno Santo. The traditional left-wing parties were in free fall in all three elections. De Waele said that in Romania, the centre-left's lack of support for the pro-EU candidate was a major surprise. "There is an identity crisis in Europe and the left-wing parties don't have much to offer and don't question themselves much", De Waele explained. "The Romanian PSD is a member of the Party of European Socialists, which supports democracy, but that is completely insufficient. So I think it shows a lack of direction, a lack of leadership," he added. In the first round of the Polish presidential elections, two right-wing candidates faced each other without a leftist contender. According to De Waele, the struggles of the left-of-centre parties in Romania, Poland and Portugal revolve around losing touch with their traditional voters. "We see this clearly in Portugal. The areas where the Portuguese Communist Party or the left was strong are being eaten up by the far right," De Waele said. "So, they have lost contact with the public, they don't have much to offer in terms of discourse, as a dream, as a social project. And they are in very, very great difficulty." Lately, German and Hungarian social Democrats have struggled to win over voters against their right-wing or centre-right rivals. This is partly because of a leadership issue, according to De Waele. "I think we need strong leaders who actually dare to take action. You know, being on the left today is almost a bit shameful. It's as if there were no longer any pride, as if there were no longer a project, as if social democracy had lost its project." De Waele believes that the crisis of leadership is one cause of the turn many voters towards action-oriented leaders. "I think citizens are demanding concrete policies, and governments are taking strong positions. That's also why ... Trump is so successful. He's this kind of very virile, very strong populist leader." "Part of their victory comes from the fact that they say I'm going to do something for you. And I think that, unfortunately, the moderate left or the moderate right are paralysed and don't have any strong proposals," De Waele concluded.
