Rare agreement among the federal states: across party lines, the 16 heads of government are demanding state support for energy-intensive companies – and are thus putting pressure on the federal government.
In view of rising energy costs, the 16 federal states have come out in favor of a temporary bridge electricity price to relieve energy-intensive companies. This emerges from a “Brussels declaration” that the country heads there unanimously accepted on Thursday.
On the issue of state-subsidized industrial electricity prices, the states are increasing the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). This has so far avoided a clear position on this and instead initially called for a debate about financing. A spokesman for the EU Commission said Brussels could not comment on Germany’s plans for an industrial electricity price because they were currently being discussed at the national level.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil also emphasized that there has been no such proposal from Germany yet. “But it will have to come,” said the SPD politician. Otherwise, the affected sectors are threatened with unforeseeable land damage. A sharp decline in investments in Germany can already be observed today, while at the same time there are high investments by German companies abroad.
What the countries have agreed:
BRIDGE ELECTRICITY PRICE: The “Brussels Declaration” states that the increased energy costs as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine are an “acute obstacle to the recovery of the economy and the return of industrial production to pre-crisis levels”. It must therefore be possible for the EU member states for a transitional period “to establish a competitive bridge electricity price, especially for energy-intensive companies that compete internationally, until affordable renewable energies are available on a sufficient scale.”
“We’re talking about steel and chemistry, we’re talking about copper and aluminum, glass, ceramics, cement and a number of other industrial sectors,” said Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Weil as chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK). These sectors are threatened with “very, very great damage”. His MPK deputy Hendrik Wüst (CDU) from North Rhine-Westphalia said that you don’t have to like a bridge electricity price. “But so far I haven’t heard any other answer from those who don’t want that.”
EU Parliament Vice President Katarina Barley supported the demand. “The Commission must be clear that competition does not only take place in the internal market,” said the SPD politician. Changes of location in the EU are unlikely given the skyrocketing energy prices. “The industry’s gaze will then turn to Asia and the USA,” she warned.
For the Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering (VDMA), the call for greater government funding sends the wrong message. A bridge electricity price for Germany would counteract a European approach to jointly tackling global problems such as energy costs and threaten to distort the European internal market.
FINANCING OF THE REGIONS: In the opinion of the country leaders, already highly developed regions should receive more funding from the EU. Strong regions are the EU’s “growth and innovation locomotives,” says the “Brussels Declaration.” In order for Europe to keep up with global competition, existing strengths must be supported.
NRW Prime Minister Wüst said about EU financing: “So far it’s actually about making weak regions strong.” But strong industrial regions such as Lower Saxony or North Rhine-Westphalia are also facing transformation challenges.
MIGRATION: With regard to the reception and distribution of refugees, the country heads emphasized that this must be carried out in solidarity. With the agreement of the EU interior ministers on a migration pact, it was also possible to hold states responsible that had previously made “practically no contribution”. The goal of a solidarity system should not be undermined. The prime ministers continue to insist on “legally secure and human rights-compliant procedures at the EU’s external borders”. Especially for families with children, special protection must be ensured.
NRW Prime Minister Wüst accused the federal government of lacking support for the EU asylum compromise. This is “disturbing” because Germany in particular will benefit from this in a special way.
With the migration pact, the EU is aiming for a much tougher approach to dealing with migrants without any prospects of staying. In the future, people from countries that are considered safe should come to isolated and controlled reception facilities. Normally, it would be checked there within twelve weeks whether the applicant has a chance of being granted asylum. If not, it should be sent back immediately.
DEALING WITH THE WOLF: The country leaders are also demanding that the EU be given the opportunity to deal with the return of the wolf differently depending on the region. European species protection policy must “enable regional responses to regionally different challenges in wolf protection,” it says in its statement.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Weil in particular had advocated making it easier to shoot wolves: Where there are many wolves, the state must be able to intervene. On Wednesday evening, farmers demonstrated at the conference in Brussels to relax the protection status of the wolf.
FASTER PROCEDURE: “We are too complicated in Germany, we are too slow, and in the end we are therefore too expensive,” said Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Weil. The country leaders are therefore in favor of less bureaucracy and faster procedures as the cornerstone of successful European politics. These adjustment screws must be taken into account in all measures that are necessary to overcome the current challenges.
Wüst appealed that the EU should not continue to burden countries with regulations in this difficult situation. “On the contrary, the EU must be a growth driver for our economies, not only for Germany, but also for many others,” he demanded.