A call for commitments from Volkswagen
Lies urged East Frisia to show greater confidence amid the VW crisis. According to NWZonline, he said workers at the Emden plant had met the economic targets agreed in 2024 to stabilize the site. They now needed reliable commitments, he argued, and a decision should not be pushed into the following year.
VW CEO Oliver Blume had previously called for a probationary period of six to 12 months for plants threatened with closure in Hannover, Zwickau, Emden and Neckarsulm.
The Emden plant is scheduled to begin producing the all-electric VW ID.Tiguan on November 12, 2026. The model succeeds the ID.4 and ID.5, and Lies said he would attend the production launch.
Group-wide collective bargaining negotiations are due to open at Emden's Nordseehalle on November 24, 2026. The 75-member negotiating commission will meet outside Wolfsburg or Hannover for the first time. A large rally is also planned, starting at the Schützenplatz and Kickers grounds.
Health care paperwork and a teenager's wait
Hackhe, of medical supply business Sanitätshaus Janssen, delivered the address traditionally given by the youngest merchant. She invoked Alice in Wonderland to describe documentation requirements and cost-cutting pressures in the German health care system.
Her account included the case of a 13-year-old boy who had to wait more than a year for a prosthesis.
International cooperation at a longstanding gathering
About 200 invited guests from business, politics and public administration in East Frisia attended the Friday evening dinner at the Klub zum guten Endzweck. Volkmar-Jürgen Janssen, chairman of the Emder Kaufmannschaft, welcomed them. The featured speakers were Lies and Reem Alabali-Radovan, federal minister for economic cooperation and development in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's cabinet. Both are Social Democrats.
Before the dinner, the Emder Kaufmannschaft had announced that Alabali-Radovan's keynote address would focus on international cooperation. Its stated premise was that Germany's economic strength depends on openness, reliability and dependable partnerships around the world.
The Kaufmannsmahl dates back more than 260 years and ranks among East Frisia's major social events, according to NWZonline. Federal ministers Hubertus Heil, Nancy Faeser, Boris Pistorius and Klara Geywitz have attended in recent years, followed most recently by Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig. All are Social Democrats. The host club says Emden citizens founded it in 1802.
Cruise ship outfitting moves to Emden
Meyer Werft is set to shift final outfitting of its cruise ships from the Dutch port of Eemshaven to Emden's outer harbor beginning in 2027. The City of Emden says the arrangement covers four new ships scheduled for completion in 2027 and 2028, with an option for three additional vessels. The city describes it as a solution carried out entirely within Lower Saxony.
The vessels, measuring up to 350 meters long, will berth near the outer harbor's grain silos. Several thousand people are expected to work aboard during outfitting.
