energy debate
Relief: Targeted help or principle watering can?
The gas bill will be significantly more expensive this year. Who and how the politicians should relieve the burden is controversial. photo
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
The federal government is still looking for ways and means to mitigate the consequences of increased inflation. Everyone agrees on the goal, but the right measures are hotly debated.
A decision will probably not be made until September, but the debate about a third “relief package” to cushion the consequences of high inflation is gaining momentum.
While the Greens want more targeted relief for low-income households, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) advocates measures with a broader impact. For its part, the Union calls for support for companies that depend on cheap energy.
Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) admitted in an interview with Deutschlandfunk: “It is true that beyond the transfer recipients in Germany it is not so easy to quickly and precisely relieve the burden.” A measure like the planned reduction in VAT on natural gas from 19 percent to 7 percent announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) this week is “not as accurate as other measures”. That’s why “a total package” is needed. In order to do this, particular attention must be paid to those “who need it the most”.
DGB: Relief must be noticeable across the board
DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi called on the federal government to provide noticeable relief, not only for the socially needy. The measures should also be felt across the board, she told the dpa. The government cannot put a “big cheese dome” over everyone. But the pressure to reduce energy costs remains high. This does not only apply to a few groups. “A more detailed debate” is needed about who will be relieved and to what extent. Many people with low annual incomes or small pensions also have no reserves.
Chancellor Scholz announced the planned new relief package on Thursday for the coming weeks. Exactly what the package looks like is being discussed “with confidence in the government”.
Opposition criticizes hesitation
“As a Union, we called for the reduction in VAT to seven percent in February, and it is now the end of August,” said the economic policy spokeswoman for the Union faction, Julia Klöckner (CDU) of the Bayern media group. “If the traffic light hadn’t rejected our proposal and hesitated for so long, the citizens would have benefited from it.”
Now the government must also think of companies that, in view of the high energy prices, would have to fear that they would no longer be able to keep up with offers from abroad. “Jobs are being cut, supply chains and Germany as an industrial location are in danger,” Klöckner warned. She expects Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) “to take effective measures for companies that depend on competitive energy prices”. These included “the reduction of the electricity tax” and measures for a lower industrial electricity price.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr called on Habeck to ensure that the reduction in VAT on gas is actually passed on to consumers. In the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” Dürr also spoke out against further relief. The scope of the federal budget is “limited”.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) told the Funke media group in the direction of his party colleague Scholz that his announcements had to be “substantiated by actions”. The reduction in VAT is an important step.