The Federation of German Industries (German: Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI)) is the umbrella organizationofGerman industry and industry-related service providers. It represents 39 industry associations and more than 100,000 companies that employ around 8 million workers.[1] Membership is voluntary. A total of 15 Bundesland-level agencies represent the interests of the economy at regional level. The headquarters of the BDI is the Haus der Deutschen WirtschaftinBerlin. Its president is Siegfried Russwurm. BDI has offices in Germany and abroad.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) has its roots in the Reich Federation of German Industry (RDI). On 19 June 1933, during the National Socialist era, the Reich Federation of German Industry was merged with the Federation of German Employers' Associations to form the Reich Industry Group (de: Reichsstand der Deutschen Industrie). This body was responsible for the representation of industrial enterprises during the National Socialist period and was subsequently dissolved at the end of the war in 1945.
When the Federal Republic of Germany was established in 1949, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) was founded in Munich. The DGB was formed to exclusively represent the interests of employees. On 1 July 1949, the statutes of this representative body were approved by the representatives of the military government. On 19 October 1949, representatives of 32 trade associations and working groups established the Committee for Economic Issues of the Industrial Associations to counter the Allies' reservations regarding a regularly operating industrial umbrella organisation. At the beginning of 1950, this organisation was renamed the Federation of German Industry.
Between 1950 and 1999 the headquarters of the BDI were located in the House of German Industry in Cologne.
As an umbrella organization, the federation is responsible for the represenration and promotion of concerns of the industrial sectors it encompasses. However, it is not permitted to represent issues relating to social policy. This function is reserved for the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA). According to section 4, paragraph 2 of the BDI statutes, membership of the BDI is limited to leading industrial associations and working groups, and is not open to sole proprietors or corporate networks. In terms of political science, the BDI is recognised as an interest group in the "Economy and Labor" sector,[2] and is referred to as "an investor association of industrial sector and trade associations".[3] As an advocacy group, its main role is to articulate the interests of its members and their industries, while it also engages in global lobbying on behalf of industrially active enterprises at the local, national and global levels,[4] and thereby is heard across all economic relevant legislative processes.[2]
^ abSebaldt, Martin; Straßner, Alexander (2004). Verbände in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: eine Einführung. Studienbücher Politisches System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (in German) (1. Auflage ed.). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. p. 105. ISBN978-3-531-13543-4.
^Petersohn, Frederik. A. (2000). Informalisierung und Parteipolitisierung im Politikformulierungsprozeß der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Dargestellt am Beispiel der steuerpolitischen Positionen des Bundesverbandes der Deutschen Industrie zwischen 1982 und 1994 (in German). Münster und Berlin. p. 77.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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