Wiesbaden/Berlin (dpa/lhe) – The agreement of the federal and state governments on a package to finance relief in the energy crisis gives people planning security from the point of view of the Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU). “You now have to worry far less about the upcoming winter and a cold apartment,” said the head of government on Wednesday evening. “And the companies, the municipalities, hospitals and care facilities as well as the social and cultural institutions should get the help they need.”
After weeks of wrangling, the federal and state governments had previously agreed on a package to finance the planned billion-euro relief in view of the high energy prices. There was also an agreement on the financing of a nationwide 49-euro monthly ticket for buses and trains.
The Hessian Prime Minister rated the result of the consultations in Berlin as a success for the states as a whole: “Following our pressure, the federal government has moved on essential issues such as the gas and electricity price brake, but also on the regionalization funds and the refugees.” The federal states, for their part, have also shown their willingness to compromise. “I said from the beginning that the federal and state governments shouldn’t block each other because that doesn’t benefit anyone – at most the Pied Pipers from the political extremes.”