Germany

Although Germany has continued to be the EU’s economic “engine†and stability anchor and, although, due to its ambitious reforms undertaken over the last decade, the federal economy has proven extremely resilient to the negative effects of the last two crises that hit the European and global economy, in 2012, as a result of the impact of a renewed uncertainty related to the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone, the country’s economic growth has begun a downward trend, marking the start of a “stagnation†of the accelerated growth that had characterized the German economy over the previous years (2010-2011). In 2014, as a result of the interaction of several factors that had a stimulating effect on the overall economic evolution, Germany managed to overcome the quasi-stagnation that it faced in 2012-2013, but against the background of the slowdown noticed at the level of its main trade partners (the countries in the Eurozone), correlated with the emergence of geopolitical risks, the country’s economic performance last year was moderate, below its traditional growth potential. According to the latest estimates of EU experts, in full consensus with the forecasts outlined at national level, this trend will be maintained in 2015 as well, when economic growth will continue to be supported mainly by internal factors, in contradiction with its classical development pattern, which was primarily oriented towards exports. Nevertheless, the data presented in the European Economic Forecast Spring Report of the European Commission (EC) show a slight acceleration of the economic growth, against the background of the persistence of favorable labor market conditions, with effect on the evolution of domestic demand, the progressive reduction of the international oil price with impact on the decrease of inflation, doubled by the current depreciation of the euro compared to the U.S. dollar, which could represent an additional stimulus for the future outlook of federal export and the finding of new outlet markets for “made in Germany†products.