In view of the expiring 9-euro ticket, the federal government is discussing further relief. Emergency aid is also an issue at EU level.
In the midst of the struggle for additional relief for citizens, the federal government is now also examining a correction of the state gas levy. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said in Berlin that it was about making it more difficult for “free riders”, i.e. actually profitable gas importers, to access it.
The surcharge is paid by the gas users – the fewer companies they get, the less the citizens would have to pay. At the same time, the traffic light coalition is working flat out on further aid. A new package will be on the table “in a few days,” said SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert.
The federal government has already put together two relief packages, but measures such as the 9-euro ticket for local transport and the tax cut on fuel will expire at the end of the month. “That’s why it’s all the more important that the third relief package should ideally be announced before the hammer falls next Thursday,” said Kühnert of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.
Consideration of older people for new relief
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also announced on Thursday that the government would quickly make a proposal – and this time pensioners should also benefit in particular from the aid. “That’s clear to me, at least,” said the SPD politician. There had previously been criticism that pensioners were left out of the flat-rate energy price payment that will be paid to employees in September. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) also assured in the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner”: “We will have clarity about the relief package for the winter before October.”
Lindner also emphasized that the government is not afraid of correcting the gas levy. “A measure of solidarity cannot serve to ensure that individual companies maintain their returns and make profits on them,” he said. Habeck explained that he was looking for a legally secure way of sorting out “free riders”.
The surcharge is intended to compensate for the sharp rise in costs for major importers such as Uniper due to the shortage of Russian gas supplies, in order to protect them from bankruptcy and the German energy system from collapsing. All gas customers are to pay an additional 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour from October, private households as well as companies. About half of all apartments in Germany are heated with gas.
However, there is criticism of the levy because companies that are doing well economically could also benefit. That was not intended, said Habeck. “We didn’t want to give companies that make good profits more chances of making profits.” The pay-as-you-go system as a whole is not up for debate.
Union and left want to stop levy
The Union, on the other hand, is requesting a motion in the Bundestag to completely abolish the surcharge. This emerges from an application by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, which was available to the German Press Agency. The “Bild” newspaper reported about it first. According to the application, companies that do not need any support at all, as they expect profits in the millions and billions for the current financial year, would also benefit from funds from the levy.
AfD and Linke also demanded a withdrawal. Left co-group leader Dietmar Bartsch said: “The gas levy should not be revised, but stopped.” The AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel explained: “The gas levy was messed up from the start and cannot be saved.”
Habeck defended the levy: The levy system as a whole is not up for debate, he emphasized. It must be prevented that the gas supply in Germany is endangered or even collapse. He understands anyone who is annoyed that companies that make profits want to claim the levy. “I join this group. But of course we are also bound to find legally secure forms.”
SPD leader Saskia Esken pleaded in the ZDF morning magazine for linking the payment to the need of the gas importers.
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, importers of Russian natural gas to Germany who are directly affected by the loss of gas import contracts are entitled to apply for cost compensation.
Appeal to energy suppliers: do not use the surcharge
The Green politician Anton Hofreiter admitted that “a mistake was clearly made” in the development of the levy. But it is a strength of democratic politics to be able to correct decisions, he said on the RTL / ntv program “Frühstart”. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that if it were not legally possible to exclude profitable companies, there would still be appeals to companies not to accept the levy. RWE and Shell have already declared that they want to bear losses themselves.
The fewer companies demand money from the gas surcharge, the less gas users have to pay. In many households, money is not loose at the moment anyway. According to a survey, high inflation is forcing seven out of ten people in Germany to save on holidays, leisure time or dining out. A fifth (19 percent) stated in the survey commissioned by the Association of German Banks that they had to “cut down a lot” on other expenses due to the recent sharp rise in prices. Another 53 percent replied that they would have to “limit themselves a little”. All in all, high inflation is currently the biggest concern of people in Germany.
There are many proposals for relief, from a reform of the housing benefit to one-off payments for certain groups to a major tax reform. The energy union IG BCE proposed tax-free relief money for employees, which should be financed by employers. Hofreiter pleaded for another energy money that would be financed with a special tax on excessive corporate profits.
The “economy” Veronika Grimm brought a state-subsidized basic consumption of gas into play. Households up to a certain income could get a certain amount – for example 75 percent of the average consumption – on favorable terms. The additional consumption would then have to be paid at the market price.
Employment agency offers help with heating bills
The new CEO of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles, has pointed to the possibility of helping to settle heating bills, for example. “Anyone who falls below the subsistence level as an employee is entitled to help – and if other social benefits are not available in sufficient amounts, then basic security will help,” said Nahles of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Saturday).
The job centers would then check how high the income of the household is compared to the so-called standard requirement and whether there might be an entitlement to benefits other than basic security. “But the core message is clear: If you don’t know what to do in such a situation, you can also contact the job center,” Nahles told the newspaper.
Extension of the aid program for industrial companies
A federal aid program worth billions for energy-intensive industrial companies is to be extended. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the application period, which previously ran until the end of August, was extended by one month until the end of September. In a second step, the program period should be extended, talks are being held with the EU Commission.
Eligible energy and trade-intensive companies can receive a subsidy of up to 50 million euros for their increased natural gas and electricity costs. According to the ministry, the aid program has a volume of up to 5 billion euros.
Since the start of the program in mid-July, more than 1,000 applications have been received from 211 companies, with the number increasing every day. The first notification was issued at the beginning of August and the first tranche of funding was paid out.
EU convenes special meeting on energy prices
Further relief is not only being discussed in Germany, emergency aid is also to be debated at EU level. The EU will convene a special meeting on the dramatic increase in energy prices. The subject of the deliberations at ministerial level should be possible emergency aid, as announced by the current Czech EU Council Presidency.
According to the information, it has not yet been finally decided when exactly the meeting of the ministers responsible for energy will be organized. The date will be communicated at a later date, said a spokesman for the Council Presidency. There was also no precise information on the type of possible emergency aid measures.
Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela recently described a pan-European price cap as “a real possibility”. “For my part, I can say that the Czech Republic would be one of the countries that would support this move,” he said.