German Chamber of Commerce and Industry

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German Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Deutscher-Industrie-und-Handelskammertag-Logo.svg
chamber
Organizational form registered association
founding year 1861
Seat House of German Business
in Berlin
Homepage dihk.de
president Eric Schweitzer
Chief Executive Martin Wansleben
Key figures
Number of employees 465 (2017)
(entire network of IHKs 1900)
Contribution amount EUR 43.9 million (2017)
Total assets EUR 119.2 million (2017)

The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce e. V. (Abbreviation: DIHK , formerly Deutscher Industrie- und Handelstag , abbreviation: DIHT ) is a registered association under private law , the members of which are essentially the 79 German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHKs), which in turn are corporations under public law . The DIHK has the task of promoting cooperation between the IHKs and ensuring a regular exchange of experiences. At the national, European and international level , the DIHK represents the interests of the commercial German economy (or parts of it) towards decision-makers in federal politics and the European institutions. He also coordinates the work of the global network of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad . The seat is the House of German Business in Berlin.

activity

On behalf of and in coordination with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the DIHK represents the interests of the German business community in relation to federal politics, administration and the public. This takes place, among other things, by means of statements on draft proposals, position papers, surveys, events and through press and public relations work. With its economic policy positions, the IHK organization annually submits proposals for more growth and employment. The economic policy positions include a description of the initial situation and the most important demands on politics for central fields of action.

Since 1958 the association has also had a DIHK office in Brussels, the seat of many EU institutions . It has been located in the 'House of European Chambers' since 2004, where the European umbrella organization Eurochambres is also based. Accordingly, the DIHK also develops European political positions: These are demands of the commercial economy in Germany on decision-makers at European level.

Numerous projects, among others to promote Germany as a business location, vocational training, the German economy abroad or the future viability of small and medium-sized companies in particular are bundled in the DIHK-Service-GmbH. She is a daughter of DIHK e. V. and acts as a project company for chambers of industry and commerce (IHKs) as well as for foreign chambers of commerce (AHKs). The DIHK Service GmbH works closely with its partners in the IHK organization from politics and business.

The competencies of the public law chambers are identical to those of their umbrella organization DIHK. This is due to the fact that the IHKs are not allowed to belong to an association that moves beyond their own competence framework. According to the case law of the Federal Administrative Court , a company can request its IHK to leave the DIHK if it repeatedly exceeds its scope of competence through statements or actions.

After a 2010 ruling on the so-called "Limburg Declaration" against the IHKs, the Federal Administrative Court also decided against the DIHK in 2016 that the representation of interests and lobbying work of the DIHK on general political issues without any economic connection were not covered by the competence of the chambers of industry and commerce. The representation of labor law and socio-political interests such as minimum wages or pensions are not within the remit of the chambers of industry and commerce. The chambers' area of ​​responsibility is to promote the economy in the regions they represent, so only political statements that specifically refer to the general interests of the economy in the respective chamber district are permitted. The chambers of public law are also prohibited from making statements that stir up emotions and exaggerate polemically . Statements on particularly controversial topics must show the weighing required according to Section 1 (1) IHKG; in the case of majority decisions, significant minority positions may have to be presented. Accordingly, in the case of issues that are controversial in the chambers, the chambers must point out that their position as a chamber is not the undisputed, common position of all member companies. These restrictions do not apply directly to the DIHK itself, since it is not a public corporation but an association under private law. However, since the individual companies are legal members of the chambers of industry and commerce and the chambers are only allowed to be members of associations within the scope of their respective competence, the member companies can request their chambers to leave the DIHK if the DIHK repeatedly makes statements that violate competence and does not provide a procedure in accordance with the statutes with which chamber members can assert a violation of chamber competencies against the DIHK.

As a consequence of the Federal Administrative Court ruling of 2016, the DIHK granted the members of the IHKs and the IHKs a corresponding right of action by amending the statutes. You can ask the DIHK to refrain from a statement or action if you are of the opinion that the DIHK exceeds its competencies. In addition, the umbrella association has given the IHK members and the IHKs the opportunity to complain and have possible violations of competence checked.

In a decision of July 12, 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the compulsory membership in the chambers of industry and commerce, which critics questioned, is compatible with the Basic Law.

Club structure

The organs of the DIHK are the general assembly, the board, the executive board and the president.

At the top of the Association is President . He represents the DIHK in economic policy decisions and statements to the outside world.

Previous presidents:

The incumbent President Eric Schweitzer was re-elected for a further term in spring 2017. The current DIHK Vice Presidents in 2019 are Peter Esser, Thomas Meyer , Klaus Olbricht and Klaus-Hinrich Vater. Martin Wansleben has been Chief Executive Officer since November 2001 . He succeeded Franz Schoser . Deputy chief executive officer is Achim Dercks, head of foreign trade Volker Treier . Further members of the main management are Sofie Geisel and Ilja Nothnagel.

Memberships

The DIHK is a member of the European Movement Network .

history

DIHT meeting in Bonn in 1961
150 years Chamber of Commerce and Industry: German postage stamp from 2011

The history of the DIHK begins on May 13th, 1861, when representatives of the chambers of commerce in the area of ​​the German Customs Association in Heidelberg were constituted for the “General German Trade Day” (DHT). The conference, which lasted until May 18, came about on an initiative of Theodor Frey . At that time, the standardization of the different weights and measures, the abolition of customs borders and the introduction of a uniform commercial code were the focus of the association's activities. In 1918, the DHT was renamed the "German Industry and Trade Day" (DIHT).

In Middle High German legal language, “day” means appointment, meeting, negotiation.

After January 30, 1933 ( the Nazi regime seized power ), the situation for the chambers of industry and commerce (the name since 1924) changed significantly. In several IHKs, Nazi functionaries forcibly took over the management in the first few weeks, and at the DIHT, too, the "Reichsführer of the Combat League of Commercial Medium-Sized Enterprises" occupied the offices with the help of the SS .

President Bernhard basic protested to Hitler and reached a temporary withdrawal of the Nazi occupation, but in the summer of 1933, the DIHT General Assembly has been brought into line and replaced the top. In 1935, after the “reorganization” of the commercial economy, the DIHT was transferred to the newly created Reich Chamber of Commerce as the “Working Group of Chambers of Industry and Commerce” and was practically meaningless. Until their dissolution and transfer to the Gau economic chambers in 1943, the IHKs were the recipients of orders from the Reich Ministry of Economics .

After the end of the war in 1945, the chambers of industry and commerce resumed their activities. The German Industry and Trade Day was re-established in Ludwigshafen in 1949 as a result of the regional mergers of the West German zones of occupation ; he committed himself to the social market economy. In 1950 the location of the DIHT was relocated to the then federal capital Bonn.

In 1965 the association moved into a new building at Koblenzer Straße 148, later Adenauerallee , which was its place of activity until October 1999.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, independent IHKs were established in eastern Germany, which contributed to the transition from a planned to a market economy.

On June 20, 1991 the association decided to move to the capital Berlin. On October 4, 1999, the headquarters were moved to the House of German Business in Berlin, and since 2001 the association has been known as the “German Chamber of Commerce and Industry ” (DIHK). On March 23, 2011, the DIHK celebrated its 150th birthday in Berlin in the presence of Federal President Christian Wulff .

See also

Web links

Commons : German Chamber of Commerce and Industry  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ DIHK: Dr. Eric Schweitzer - President of the DIHK. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
  2. ↑ dihk.de: DIHK Finance 2017 (PDF; 2.3 MB; 7 pages), page 2 right column. Retrieved March 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ dihk.de: The finances of the DIHK , accessed on March 28, 2019.
  4. ↑ dihk.de: Imprint - German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
  5. ↑ dihk.de: The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce e. V. (DIHK) , DIHK website, accessed on January 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ dihk.de: The DIHK in Brussels - German Industry and Commerce. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
  7. ↑ eurochambres.eu: Eurochambres website , accessed on January 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ dihk.de: Taking responsibility together - Shaping Europe's future: European political positions 2016 of the IHK organization (pdf; 2.9 MB; 52 pages), accessed on March 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ dihk.de: For a Europe - which is stronger together: European political positions of the IHK organization 2019 (pdf; 2.4 MB; 52 pages), accessed on March 28, 2019.
  10. ↑ dihk.de: DIHK Service GmbH , accessed on April 3, 2019.
  11. ↑ bverwg.de: Judgment of June 23, 2010 - BVerwG 8 C 20.09 / Limburg Declaration , Federal Administrative Court, accessed on April 3, 2019.
  12. ↑ bverwg.de: judgment of the BVerwG of March 23, 2016 - 10 C 4.15 (pdf; 98.5 kB; 23 pages), website of the Federal Administrative Court, accessed on April 3, 2019.
  13. ↑ sueddeutsche.de, 23 June 2016: Judgment: Federal judges set limits to lobbyists , In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , accessed on April 3, 2019.
  14. ↑ dihk.de: DIHK Competence Examination / Complaints Office on Section 1 Paragraph 1 IHK Law , accessed on April 3, 2019.
  15. ↑ bundesverfassungsgericht.de, August 2, 2017: Federal Constitutional Court - Press - Constitutional complaints against the contribution obligation for compulsory members of the chambers of industry and commerce unsuccessful. Retrieved April 3, 2019 .
  16. ^ Son of Adolf Frentzel
  17. ^ Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg: Alfred Petersen - Munzinger biography. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
  18. ↑ dihk.de: Executive Board: President / Vice President / Chief Executive Officer , accessed on April 4, 2019.
  19. ↑ dihk.de, January 9, 2019: DIHK is reorganizing the main management: Sofie Geisel and Ilja Nothnagel strengthen the team , accessed on April 4, 2019.
  20. ^ Theodor Frey School Eberbach about Theodor Frey , requested on January 2, 2011
  21. ↑ a b Website: 1918 - 1945 - German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Gerd Hardach: The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce 1861-2011 - The umbrella association of chambers of industry and commerce through the ages , ISBN 978-3-933150-87-5