Status: 03.09.2022 21:22
Since midday, the coalition committee has been discussing the third package of measures to relieve the population in view of the increased energy and living costs. It is unclear whether an agreement will be reached today.
The heads of the coalition parties SPD, Greens and FDP continue to discuss new relief measures. The talks in the Berlin Chancellery continued, according to negotiating circles. In the early evening, a few traffic light politicians caught some fresh air in small groups of talks on the balcony of the Chancellery. It remains to be seen whether an agreement will be reached today.
It was agreed not to disclose the status of the negotiations led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The results of the deliberations are to be presented to the media by the coalition leaders after the conclusion of the talks.
A whole bundle of measures is expected with which the coalition wants to react to the sharp rise in energy and living costs. Direct payments for people with low incomes and in particular for pensioners and students, tax relief and the successor to the nine-euro ticket in local transport were under discussion.
Controversial excess profit tax in traffic lights
It would be the third relief package this year. The two previous relief packages included the tank discount that expired at the end of August, the nine-euro ticket and a flat-rate energy price. They had a total volume of a good 30 billion euros.
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner had announced a “massive package for relief” on Wednesday after a two-day cabinet meeting of the federal government. He saw scope for a single-digit billion amount for this year and for a double-digit billion amount for the coming year. After the exam, Scholz announced a “relief package that was as tailor-made as possible, as efficient as possible, as targeted as possible”.
The SPD and the Greens are also calling for a so-called excess profit tax, which could be used to skim off profits from the crisis, for example because of the high gas prices at energy companies. It could also be used to fund further relief. Lindner and the FDP are skeptical about the excess profit tax.