The three traffic light coalition partners have practically buried the controversial gas levy for themselves. But the government vote is still pending. The search for an alternative has long since begun. Opportunity for the Greens to put the finance minister in the limelight after the defeat for their economy minister.
The controversial gas surcharge will not come with an almost hourly increase in probability. “I am firmly convinced that we will come to the end of the gas levy this week,” said SPD leader Saskia Esken on ARD. Her co-boss Lars Klingbeil added on ZDF: “I think politics must have the power to correct mistakes.” He, too, is expecting a decision in the next few days: “All of this must now be clarified quickly in the government.”
In view of the high gas prices, a waiver sends the right signal to consumers and companies. He now sees the Minister of Economic Affairs on the train, said Klingbeil: “Robert Habeck is the responsible minister, who in the end has to make the proposal on how to proceed with the gas levy.” The Greens had proposed alternative financing from tax revenue.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner had previously also openly moved away from the levy for the first time. “It’s less a question of law when it comes to the gas levy, but more and more of a question of economic meaning,” said the head of the FDP to “Bild am Sonntag”. The gas surcharge increases the price. “But we need a gas price brake that lowers the price.” However, he wanted to continue to hold on to the debt brake of the federal budget.
This insistence on the debt brake meanwhile puts the Greens back on the offensive: “The gas surcharge can go as soon as the Ministry of Finance is willing to come up with an alternative. This alternative means: financing from budget funds,” said party leader Ricarda Lang. Lindner must now deliver and provide the necessary funds to stabilize suppliers and lower energy prices. Capping gas prices for basic needs is the right way to go.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz held out the prospect of proposals to curb gas prices in the near future. It is now a question of “how we can reduce the far too high prices, both for electricity and for gas,” said the SPD politician on the sidelines of a visit to Qatar. A commission started consultations on Saturday and is doing “very good, constructive” work. “We will also be able to count on quick results.” The chancellor kept a low profile when he was traveling about the gas levy.
Habeck himself had recently spoken of the levy only as a bridge to another solution and also questioned it legally. Because the majority of the income would flow to the utility Uniper. But this should be nationalized. Until then, however, it will take a few months.
The surcharge of around 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour should actually be paid by all gas customers from October. The aim is to use the money to support the importers. According to estimates, the total is more than 30 billion euros. The importers are suffering from the supply freeze for Russian gas and have to obtain replacements quickly and expensively on the market, but cannot immediately pass on the additional costs to customers in current contracts.
