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Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank, addressed the Wirtschaftstag 2026 conference, arguing that Germany and Europe face intensified challenges from the war in Iran and rapid AI advancement. He called for structural reforms and investments in defense, technology, and infrastructure, prioritizing growth and competitiveness. Sewing outlined five priorities: future-proof energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure and data strategy, harnessing AI in industrial applications, more European cooperation through a 'coalition of the willing,' and an integrated European capital market to retain savings and finance investments. He cited the Draghi report's call for 1000 billion euros per year and noted Europe loses 300 billion to the US. Responding to a question, Sewing said increased investor interest in Europe stems from both diversification and flight from the dollar, citing his 'Made for Germany' initiative with Roland Busch, which attracted investors due to talent, companies, rule of law, and democracy.
Key takeaways
Sewing called for structural reforms and investments in defense, technology, and infrastructure to address intensified challenges from the war in Iran and AI.
He advocated for an integrated European capital market to keep savings in Europe and finance investments.
Sewing cited the Draghi report's call for 1000 billion euros per year in investments.
He stated Europe loses 300 billion euros to the US, highlighting the need for action.
Sewing said investor interest in Europe is driven by both diversification and flight from the dollar.
Dear Mrs. Jeggerer, thank you very much. Dear Astrid Hamker, dear Minister Katharina Reiche, dear Governing Mayor Wegner, dear Gerndöner, dear Roland, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Last year I spoke about epochal change at high speed. The situation has intensified due to the war in Iran and the rapid advance of AI. Germany and Europe need structural reforms and investments in defense, technology, and infrastructure. We must prioritize growth and competitiveness. First, a future-proof energy infrastructure with all options on the table. Second, digital infrastructure and data strategy. Other countries like India have shown what is possible. Third, harness AI, especially in industrial applications. Fourth, more Europe: a coalition of the willing where necessary. Fifth, the capital market: we need an integrated European capital market to keep savings in Europe and finance investments. The Draghi report calls for 1000 billion per year; we lose 300 billion to the US. We have the substance and the will. A Ukrainian woman said: 'Ukraine has the will without the economy. Europe has the economy but not the will.' We can no longer afford that. Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Sewing, thank you very much. You mentioned that international investors have increased interest in Europe. When we think about Germany, is that interest really there because they see the substance of the economy, or is it also a flight from the dollar?
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Sewing, C. (2026, May 8). Wirtschaftstag 2026 | Impuls - Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank AG [Interview transcript]. Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V.. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1005339/
MLA
Christian Sewing. "Wirtschaftstag 2026 | Impuls - Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank AG." Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V., 8 May. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1005339/.
BibTeX
@misc{sewing2026_1005339,
author = {Christian Sewing},
title = {Wirtschaftstag 2026 | Impuls - Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank AG},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V.. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {may},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1005339/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
