Ten German associations have recently issued a joint call for action to promote employee share ownership in Germany, drawing attention the "urgent need to bring it out of its niche".
The call was co-signed by DSW - Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz e.V., German member organisation of BETTER FINANCE and the largest association representing private investors in Germany, and challenges the legislator to improve the institutional framework, harmonise existing rules at European level and make information on employee participation more accessible and readable to all interested parties.
According to the call, “German politicians need to act”. Whereas in other European countries like France and Great Britain the numbers of employee shareholders is high, in Germany only 800.000 employees benefit from employee share ownership. Bureaucracy is highlighted as one of the main constrains to the involvement of employee shareholders.
Marc Tüngler, Managing Director of DSW, stressed that the wide support to the call shows the importance of employee share ownership for the German market actors to resist.
The European Federation of Employee Share Ownership – also member organisation of BETTER FINANCE - echoed the concerns: "Fiscal aspects play a major role for the dissemination of employee share ownership. If Germany really wants to promote employee share ownership, it needs to adapt its allowances to common international levels and to increase it strongly”.