Overview
- The Thuringian Landtag convened a special session Monday to draw lessons from Zalando’s planned September closure of its Erfurt logistics center.
- According to the state Economic Affairs Ministry, Zalando received more than €22 million in investment aid whose purpose-binding has expired, preventing any clawback.
- Economic Affairs Minister Colette Boos-John said potential state support for roughly €100 million in needed site investments could have been explored had the company engaged earlier.
- The Left (Linke) faction, which requested the session, proposes making repayment, location-commitment and verification clauses standard and signaled openness to committee talks on a compromise.
- Competing motions include an AfD plan for fundamental subsidy reforms with corporate contributions to social follow-up costs and long-term location ties, and a governing CDU–BSW–SPD proposal prioritizing regionally rooted firms, strengthening collective bargaining and examining a bonus for tariff-bound employers.