On 24 January 2019, for the thirteenth time already the annual "Business Talk" was held at Hotel Bayerischer Hof, again jointly organised by Warth & Klein Grant Thornton and BEITEN BURKHARDT, hosting some 700 guests. The guiding theme of this years event was "Germany in a Period of Renewal - European and Foreign Policy Prospects".

As keynote speaker the organisers were able to book the former Vice Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Joschka Fischer. As a noted speaker he fascinated the audience with a brillant lecture on global political topics as well as with regard to environmental and sustainability issues.

After the host Dr Stefan Kusterer (Warth & Klein Grant Thornton) had briefly welcomed the participants, Joschka Fischer began his speech. In his lecture of barely one hour he addressed Germany's current situation and prospects under European and foreign policy aspects. Initially he looked back to the history of Germany and then turned to address present political and economic events such as, for instance, the Brexit, the difficult geopolitical environment in Europe, the current relations with the United States and the great importance of technologies in the 21st century. This made him come to the conclusion that European sovereignty was of tremendous significance as "Germany stands and falls with a strong Europe".

The exciting, entertaining and inspiring lecture by Joschka Fischer was followed by an extensive round of questions. Joschka Fischer first addressed the questions by the hosts Dr Dirk Tuttlies (BEITEN BURKHARDT) and Kathrin Reitner (Warth & Klein Grant Thornton) and then answered numerous questions from the audience. He closed the round of questions by saying "Europe is our future. Europe is our destiny!“ After that, Dr Axel Goetz (BEITEN BURKHARDT) invited the guests to a get-together so that everyone could enjoy the rest of the evening with culinary delicacies and networking in a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere.