Paint industry meets for VdL Annual Meeting 2023

A comprehensive program awaited the participants from over 200 member companies in the coatings and printing inks industry at the VdL General Meeting. The day before, meetings of the architectural coatings, industrial coatings and wood coatings specialist groups got underway. The agenda included the most pressing issues facing the industry. Against the backdrop of the tense economic situation and the Ukraine war, the EU's Green Deal and the complex regulatory issues associated with it were discussed intensively in particular. Officially, the meeting started on Wednesday morning. President Peter Jansen welcomed the guests and representatives of other associations against the backdrop of Lübeck's old town. In his speech, Jansen highlighted the months of the pandemic, after which many companies are now facing a global crisis. The difficult times were underlined by the economic figures: "The market declined by minus 5.8% overall. The current year is hard to forecast, but we expect a drop of more than 2%." In view of the situation, companies can't always just be asked to be resilient, Jansen said "It would already be helpful if new obstacles weren't constantly being put in our way." Excessive bureaucratic requirements and an excessive government "regulatory frenzy" would place an enormous burden on industry, he said. "You can't just boldly demand Germany speed, but then fail because of home-made problems and over-complex procedures yourself. Not everything can be solved with money. The state acts as a savior in the case of problems for which it is responsible. That's almost a case for the psychologist!" said Jansen, who described the challenges facing his company after the Ahr disaster under the heading of "resilience".

Chief Executive Dr. Martin Kanert then delved into VdL's key political and regulatory issues, such as the legal situation in the titanium dioxide case, the upcoming Green Deal requirements, and the latest developments on microplastics. "These are all complex issues that we are dealing with competently, but which will continue to occupy the industry for years to come," Kanert said. After the discharge of the presidium, the entrepreneur Friedrich-Wilhelm Wagner was appointed honorary member for his great services, among others as long-time auditor of the VdL. In his keynote speech, "Can we make a new start in industrial policy after the pandemic and energy crisis?", Norbert Theihs, head of the VCI Berlin office, gave the audience insights into advocacy work in the capital and advised them to make contact with their constituency politicians. Finally, Captain Nils Brandt, Head of the Naval Faculty at the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College and former commander of the "Gorch Fock", provided insights of a special kind with his enthusiastically received presentation "Teambuilding on the High Seas". The next annual meeting will take place in 2024 in Mainz, the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate.