While Germany is still discussing whether gas prices will be curbed in the coming year, energy costs in other countries have been capped for months or years. However, no one spends as much money on relief as Germany. An overview of how our neighboring countries deal with energy prices.
Many European countries have been capping electricity or gas prices for months to protect their citizens from high energy costs. Now the federal government also wants to protect consumers and companies in the energy crisis with its “double boom” worth up to 200 billion euros. However, other EU governments have criticized the fact that this gives Germany an advantage over other countries that have less financial resources. Chancellor Olaf Scholz keeps repeating that the package is appropriate given the size of the German economy and that other countries are doing similar things.
But: According to calculations by the Brussels think tank Bruegel, the federal government plans to spend up to 300 billion euros on tax relief, including the “double boom”. This corresponds to around 8 percent of Germany’s gross domestic product. In Spain, for example, the corresponding proportion is only 2.9 percent, in the Netherlands it is around 5 percent. What are the other European countries doing? An overview.
