In November 2025, the German Family-Business Association announced that it had lifted its long-standing ban on contacts with the far-right AfD, following reports that an AfD politician had been invited to its annual event. According to the association's CEO, the association "still rejects the AfD’s world view and opposes the party entering government, but said dialogue was necessary given its support among roughly a quarter of voters."

The decision has prompted swift reactions from member companies: at least four German companies, including Rossmann, Vorwerk, Christ, and fritz-kola, have revoked their membership. Others, including Oetker, which had been assumed by news outlets to be part of the association, publicly denied any affiliation and distanced themselves from the association's announcement.

The venue provider, Deutsche Bank, also cancelled its lease agreement for the association’s next event in response to the development, stating that it had no knowledge of or influence of over the guest list ahead of the event.

On 30 November 2025, the Association announced that it will rethink it's approach and contacts to AfD and that they made a "mistake".

See also our story on 'Successes of Far-Right Parties in Europe – Reactions and responsibility of companies in the civic space'