The federal and state governments settle their dispute over the introduction of the nationwide 49-euro ticket in local public transport. “The Deutschlandticket will come now, also very quickly,” says Chancellor Scholz after consultations with the federal states. However, it remains unclear how quickly it will go in the end.
Citizens can expect the introduction of a so-called Germany ticket in local transport. “The Germany ticket will come now, also very quickly,” said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz after a meeting of the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK) in Berlin in the evening. “We have now removed all the hurdles so that those responsible in the federal states and the transport companies can now do everything to ensure that this progresses quickly and efficiently.”
The Germany ticket for buses and trains in local transport with an introductory price of 49 euros per month should therefore start in the new year. It is intended to tie in with the popular 9-euro ticket from the summer. The Social Democrat did not provide any further information on the content. Most recently there had been a dispute about the financing of the ticket, which was already planned in principle, by the federal and state governments.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil said: “Today we are so far that we can say: The financial foundations for this have been laid.” Now the expectation is that the relevant laws could be put on track quickly. The leaders of the federal and state governments did not initially provide any specific information on the start date for the ticket. The SPD politician said the ticket would come “by the end of the first quarter” of 2023.
Consumers with pellet and oil heating systems should be protected from price shocks, similar to gas or district heating. “As part of the Economic and Stabilization Fund, we have also provided for a hardship regulation aimed at those who have to cope with price increases that they cannot afford with regard to pellet and oil heating systems,” the Chancellor continued. “A legal regulation has also been forged there, and we are continuing to discuss whether all practical cases are actually covered.”
With a view to the economy, Scholz referred to the planned hardship fund for small and medium-sized companies. Scholz announced that the federal states would supplement the funds flowing into this fund from the federal government with their own funds. Appropriate arrangements could also be made here. The federal states had previously rejected financial participation in a federal program for medium-sized companies in the energy crisis. For their part, the states had advertised their own program for companies that heat with oil or pellets.
However, there is a new dispute between the federal and state governments about the introduction of compulsory insurance against natural hazards. In the summer, the federal and state governments agreed on the introduction of such insurance as a consequence of the 2021 flood disaster, said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst from the CDU in the evening. Now, however, FDP Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann has rejected compulsory insurance at the federal-state level, triggering “astonishment”. The topic will now be examined again and discussed again next year.
Both Wüst and Weil warned against delaying compulsory insurance for a long time. “We believe that compulsory insurance is correct,” said Weil, who is currently chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK). Natural disasters could hit anyone. In such cases, however, it is not right to always put together “huge special pots from public budgets”.
