Winter might get cold, outside and inside. While the level of the upcoming gas levy has now been determined, many people are completely unclear as to how they will be able to afford energy in the future. With “Hard but fair” the VdK boss raises the alarm.
In view of rising gas prices and the now fixed costs for the gas surcharge of 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour, the president of the social association VdK, Verena Bentele, has called for a rethink in politics. The high energy costs are “worrying for many people, especially if they cannot save because they only have a small pension,” said Bentele on Monday evening in the ARD program “Hart aber fair”. For pensioners, people with minimum wage, for people who need care and for people with disabilities who have little money, the time is difficult. The government-announced decisions on relief for these groups of people are taking too long for Bentele.
“I find it difficult to say to these people: wait and see,” said the VdK President. Now other suggestions are needed. It is right to call for people to save gas in winter. “But there are a lot of people who have so little money that they can’t save any more. Other people have a swimming pool in the basement and they don’t give a shit how much they spend. My members care.” That’s why she demands “that at least a basic need is guaranteed for the people, which must also be affordable.” It is important to take away people’s fear of having to freeze in winter.
SPD leader Saskia Esken initially agrees with the VDK president, but points out that the government decided on an initial relief package in February. Now there was another, but that was not enough. “Those who need support should be relieved,” says the politician. However, in the course of the show, she had to put up with the accusation from Verena Bentele that employees would benefit from the energy subsidy due in September, but pensioners would get nothing. However, Esken is confident that the federal government will not leave people alone in the crisis.
Opposition politician Jens Spahn does not agree at all with the current energy policy. The current gas levy has technical defects, he says in “Hart but fair”. It is right to go the way of a levy. “But I find it cynical that the state adds 19 percent VAT to a surcharge that it levies itself.” Another problem is that the federal government quickly burdens citizens with the surcharge, but takes too much time with the relief. “Every day there are new proposals in the traffic light coalition, but nothing is decided,” said CDU politician Spahn. Saskia Esken gives a few counter-examples: the housing allowance is being expanded, the nine-euro ticket was a huge success with ten million buyers.
And then Christian Kullmann comes into the conversation. The President of the Federal Association of the Chemical Industry praises the gas levy. The law has a few teething problems, but work can be done to fix them. The gas levy is not easy to manage for the chemical industry. “For us, the surcharge is like a bottle of cod liver oil that we drink on ex, but we stand by it,” he says. After all, it costs the chemical industry three billion euros a year, says Kullmann. Moderator Frank Plasberg would like to know how high the annual profit of chemical companies is. Kullmann evades, saying he doesn’t know.
Verena Bentele may have a certain idea. She points to the high dividends that companies in the chemical industry in particular have paid out to shareholders. Kullmann counters: The industry earns money to pay taxes on it so that the state can afford pensions or health care for the members of the social organizations. A strong industry is important. “If we look at the population, most people are employed,” says Kullmann. “Work is not just there to earn money. Work is the social cement of this society. We must not jeopardize that in this crisis.” Kullmann had previously questioned the priority of private households in gas allocation in the event of a crisis.
“Now is not the time for water ballet, now is the time for breaststroke, and you have to keep your head above the water,” says Kullmann. This means that poor people have to be supported by the federal government’s relief packages. “But that also means – in the sense of solidarity in a social market economy – that everyone has to do without a bit.”
Incidentally, in recent years around 300 industrial companies had waived the payment of the EEG surcharge, which all households had to pay with their electricity bills. This caused the state damage of almost ten billion euros. One of these companies was Evonik Industries. Its CEO is Christian Kullmann.
(This article was first published on Tuesday, August 16, 2022.)
