The third relief package to mitigate the exploding energy prices was launched by the traffic light coalition. Accompanied by an extraordinarily emotional speech by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), a remarkable TV appearance by his Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and a lot of criticism from the opposition. Who ultimately benefits from the relief billions?
Under the heading “Energy, prices, jobs – will the rescue package save us?” On Thursday evening at Maybrit Illner, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) was the only government representative to discuss with CDU parliamentary group Vice-President Jens Spahn, VdK President Verena Bentele and with the “Spiegel” – Journalist Melanie Amann. The energy economist Prof. Karen Pittel and the financial expert Hermann-Josef Tenhagen were also involved.
“Olaf Scholz has become a bit thin-skinned,” said Amann, when asked about his emphatically combative speech in the Bundestag. Nevertheless, he can no longer rest on the omissions of his previous government. After all, he has been in office for nine months. “You can expect his crisis management to work well.”
Nevertheless, she partially defended the federal government’s rescue package: “I think there is a lot for the small income and the needy. It’s massive for the little people,” she said, but could also understand the criticism from the opposition. How exactly the help for small businesses that was added at the last minute should look like is still very vague.
Hubertus Heil first tried to make the big picture clear. “Putin uses gas as a weapon to destabilize society. We are doing everything we can to keep society together during this time,” said the Minister of Labor. “But that doesn’t help people,” Illner interjected. Above all, they need clarity about how they can pay their bills.
According to Illner, small and medium-sized companies have been up in arms in recent days because they are threatened with insolvency. Why does such decisive information come so late that they would also be taken under the rescue package. “Did it only occur to Mr. Habeck last night?” Illner asked.
Heil reacted evasively and initially emphasized the advantages of the rescue package, which concerned, for example, the possibility of short-time work. “We have had severe economic crises for two years. Sometimes you have to make pragmatic decisions and, if in doubt, make adjustments, why not?” he finally admitted that the extension to aid for small companies was apparently made at very short notice.
Jens Spahn took advantage of Heil’s uncertainty and mercilessly put his finger in the wound as an opposition representative. The CDU parliamentary group deputy complained about the many unanswered questions raised by the relief package: “No one knows which companies will receive money under which conditions through which program. I accept that in times of crisis this has to happen quickly. But we wasted a whole summer.”
Heil didn’t want to let that sit on him: “You can pretend that nothing happened in the summer. It’s just not true, we acted quickly with a first and second relief package. And this one has measures of permanent relief.”
But it was not only from Spahn and Illner that Heil got headwind that evening. “Shouldn’t we be concerned about gas at the same time as we are now about the design of the European electricity market?” Illner wanted to know from Karen Pittel. “That is the absolute weakness of this relief package. When the prices show up on the bills, you’ll notice that gas accounts for a higher percentage. Not saying anything about this now makes people feel insecure,” said the economist.
Hermann-Josef Tenhagen criticized another point. “The core problem of these resolutions is that a lot of this will only take effect next year and people are of course now worried about seeing the bill,” said the consumer advisor, who also did not leave a good hair on Habeck’s gas levy. “We would not have needed the gas surcharge from the start if we had decided that we would finance the whole thing from the tax bag.”
Verena Bentele, on the other hand, advocated an electricity and gas price cap for basic needs. “Redistribution would be a fair thing.” Heil promised to make improvements here: “I can only tell you that we will get results on the electricity price brake as quickly as possible in this coalition.”
At the end of the show, one thing in particular became clear: the third relief package raises more questions than it answers and should keep the talks busy in the coming weeks.