Dietmar Bartsch accuses the government of deliberately driving up energy prices in order to get people to save. Instead of appealing to the population with skyrocketing prices, what is needed is a “gas price cap based on the European model,” the Left Party leader demands.
Left faction leader Dietmar Bartsch accuses the federal government of deliberately allowing energy prices to skyrocket as an incentive to save. Bartsch refers to a letter from the Ministry of Economics, which rejects price caps and explains: “Price signals must be maintained so that the controlling function of the market with regard to energy savings and energy-efficient behavior is preserved.”
Bartsch spoke of cynicism. Economics Minister Robert Habeck must ensure the gas supply and ensure affordable prices – as other countries have done, said the left-wing politician. “The fact that instead he deliberately lets prices skyrocket and plays the taskmaster at the heating controller is unacceptable and aloof.” Instead of appeals to save energy, Germany needs a “gas price cap based on the European model”.
Bartsch had asked the Economics Ministry how much gas prices for private consumers could rise if the price adjustment clause of the Energy Security Act were activated. According to its own statements, the ministry has no “valid scenario calculation” due to a lack of insight into contracts. When asked why there were reasons against capping gas prices for private consumers, State Secretary Patrick Graichen wrote: “The federal government is skeptical about a gas price cap.”
It is undeniable that extreme price increases could put companies and households under pressure. Above all, it is important to support “vulnerable gas consumers”. How help can still be decided, according to the reply from the ministry. It is available from the German Press Agency.
Habeck had already argued that the state alone could not dampen the rise in raw material costs caused by the Ukraine war. In addition, a maximum price could be perceived as if one does not have to throttle the consumption of scarce natural gas. Instead, the federal government is discussing a system for gas, like the green electricity levy that has since been abolished, in order to spread the burden across everyone’s shoulders.
