According to management consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the energy crisis is threatening key sectors of German industry and could even trigger a deindustrialization of Europe. Europe would lose global competitiveness and attraction as a production location. German industry is being hit particularly hard by the extreme rise in gas prices, according to a study by PwC subsidiary Strategy&. “In the future, many companies could decide to reorganize their production within Europe or move out of Europe altogether,” said Strategy& Europe head Andreas Späne.
The metal, auto, and chemical sectors are under enormous pressure because of higher production costs, he said. In France and Spain, production costs rose comparatively moderately. One reason for this is the higher share of nuclear power and renewable energies in the energy mix. By contrast, countries heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas, such as Germany, have come under extreme pressure.
