According to several insiders, the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP has agreed on a replacement for the gas levy. There is a comprehensive solution to the gas and electricity price problem, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. This will require a significant but responsible use of resources.
The gas surcharge, which was actually planned for the beginning of October, will not come in order not to increase prices even further. At one point it was said that the total package could have a volume of 200 billion euros. The talks are still dynamic. “Handelsblatt” and “Spiegel” also report a volume of this magnitude.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) want to appear before the press at 2 p.m. According to unconfirmed information from an insider, there could be no supplementary budget for the current year, but that an emergency decision would be made again in accordance with Article 115 of the Basic Law to suspend the debt brake for 2022. It is being discussed that the Economic and Stabilization Fund (WSF) will thus receive a new credit authorization. Accordingly, earmarking is planned for a gas price brake and the stabilization of gas suppliers and energy-intensive companies.
The gas levy of around 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour, which will actually come into force next Saturday, should actually collect over 30 billion euros from end customers in order to support gas importers. These got into difficulties due to a lack of Russian deliveries. Due to the upcoming nationalization of the largest German gas importer Uniper, the already controversial surcharge had also come under criticism.
On Wednesday, the federal states asked the federal government to quickly introduce a comprehensive price cap for electricity, gas and heat for households and companies in view of the highest inflation in decades. “In all likelihood, this will be in the three-digit billion range,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD).
Funding has long been controversial. Traffic light politicians have recently repeatedly emphasized that they want to skim off excess profits on the electricity market caused by the crisis. So far, however, there is no concrete concept for this. The Greens have campaigned for a special fund to finance energy price subsidies. Critics complain that such measures are opaque shadow budgets.
The Ministry of Finance recently said that there would be some flexibility this year because of the debt brake, which has already been suspended. Ways must be sought to pre-finance relief measures. For 2023, Finance Minister Lindner wants to stick to the fact that the debt brake will come into effect again under all circumstances.
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