Signe Munk is stepping down as minister due to stress. She should be given the peace and quiet she needs to recover.
Her successor, Karina Lorentzen Dehnhardt (SF), meanwhile takes over a task that extends far beyond the construction site in Rødbyhavn.
As Minister for Cities, Rural Areas and Transport, Karina Lorentzen also has coordinating responsibility for rural policy and responsibility for the framework governing physical planning.
That makes it an obvious task for her to take the initiative in coordinating the efforts surrounding the Fehmarn link. Transport, business sites and the development of local communities need to fit together.
Progress has stalled
Thomas Becker, director of the cross-border political membership organisation STRING, is among those who believe a comprehensive development plan is missing for how both sides of the Fehmarn Belt can make the most of the opportunities created by the link.
- Neither the Danish nor the German government has been alert enough. The areas both north and south of Fehmarn already face growth challenges, and the link should be an opportunity to address them. But the work has simply stalled, he previously told FemernBusiness.
In Lolland-Falster and South Zealand, there are ambitions for industrial parks, fuel production, data centres and new jobs, to name just a few. Plans are being drawn up and efforts are under way to attract companies, but how do we make all the pieces fit together?
A building plot alone is not enough if a company then has to wait for electricity, road access or the employees needed to get production running.
What – and when
The minister should therefore bring her fellow ministers, municipalities and the business community together around a common roadmap for the years leading up to the opening. She cannot solve the task alone. But she can take responsibility for ensuring that the parties agree on what can be launched, which obstacles need to be removed and who is responsible for doing so.
What can realistically be started this year, next year and in the years that follow? When can the first companies establish themselves in the industrial park at Rødbyhavn? What questions about power supply and access still need to be resolved there and elsewhere in Lolland-Falster and South Zealand? Who is responsible for providing the answers – and when?
That is exactly the kind of information companies need in order to plan. Manfred Braatz, head of business development at the Lübeck Chamber of Industry and Commerce, previously told FemernBusiness that repeated delays make it more difficult for companies to plan their investments. Without those investments, we will not get beyond statements of intent.
The years leading up to the tunnel opening should be used to attract businesses and workers and encourage more people to settle in Lolland-Falster and South Zealand.
Otherwise, we risk ending up with a completed link and a region that is still waiting to be ready for the opportunities it brings.
