Polish Acquisitions Surge in Germany as EU Pay Equity Clock Runs Out for Berlin

Polish companies spent over $1B on German takeovers in 2025, while Germany faces record emigration, falling net migration, and a delayed EU pay transparency law with strict new rules.

Polish companies spent more than a billion US dollars buying nine German businesses in 2025 — a sign of how the economic relationship between the two countries is evolving. That shift, from supplying workers to acquiring assets, offers a fresh lens on a German labour market under strain from record emigration, falling net migration and a missed EU deadline on wage transparency.

The HeiterBlick GmbH in Leipzig, a tram manufacturer, is now wholly owned by Polish rolling?stock maker Pesa. It is one of several takeovers that highlight a broader pattern: instead of pumping temporary labour across the border, Polish firms are planting permanent stakes in Germany.

Those acquisitions come as the number of Polish workers leaving Germany outnumbers those arriving. Last year about 17,000 more people headed back to Poland than came the other way. That reverse flow is part of a wider demographic drag. In 2025 roughly 288,579 German citizens left the country — a record — while net immigration slumped 45 percent to 235,000 people.

Amid that churn, Germany has missed a key European deadline. The EU Pay Transparency Directive, adopted in 2023, required member states to transpose its rules into national law by 7 June 2026. Berlin failed to do so. The Federal Family Ministry now says it will not complete the domestic legislation until early 2027. That delay opens the door to an infringement procedure from the European Commission. Labour lawyers warn that from 8 June 2026 courts could already interpret existing law in line with the directive.

Germany’s gender pay gap stands at 15.6 percent, well above the EU average of 11.1 percent. The directive aims to close that gap with several requirements that companies will find demanding. Once implemented, firms with at least 100 employees must report regularly on their pay structures. Job advertisements will have to include salary ranges. Asking candidates about their previous salary during interviews will be banned.

For businesses that post workers to Germany, the administrative burden remains heavy. Employers, especially those from Poland, must navigate a thicket of rules. The A1 certificate from Poland’s social?security agency ZUS is mandatory; it proves the worker stays covered by home?country social insurance. Since 1 January 2026 a new minimum hourly wage of 13.90 euros gross applies, and the monthly earnings threshold for minijobs has risen to 603 euros. Posting companies must file reports with German customs, comply with domestic working?time regulations and keep all documents in German for inspection.

Court rulings are also tightening the boundaries of working time. Germany’s Federal Labour Court has reaffirmed that travel time on business trips does not count as working hours unless the journey takes place during regular duty hours or the employee works in external sales. A European Court of Justice judgment from autumn 2025 clarified how to treat travel between changing work locations.

Health requirements at work have also gained sharper teeth. The Saxony Regional Labour Court ruled that an employee can lose their wage claim if they are objectively unfit to drive — for example because of untreated sleep apnoea. A driving licence alone is not enough if medical reports rule out fitness.

One bright spot: the electronic sick?note system — die elektronische Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (eAU) — has largely eliminated the paper?based exchange between doctors, health insurers and employers, cutting red tape for everyone involved.