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Passers-by in Frankfurt am Main: how can the state help against high prices?
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst / picture alliance / dpa
According to reports, the coalition wants to discuss whether and how it can further relieve people of the high inflation in the evening.
Before the meeting, numerous demands are made as to what the government should do.
DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi called for a surcharge on Hartz IV, and proposals for “energy vouchers” and a “distance allowance” came from the Union.
"In view of the further rising prices and the uncertainties in the gas supply, another relief package for the citizens is absolutely necessary," Fahimi told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
"In such a time of crisis, wage policy cannot be the sole burden of preventing losses in purchasing power and cushioning social hardship," warned the chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB).
In her eyes, an “ongoing, monthly supplement to the Hartz IV standard rates is necessary”.
She also spoke out in favor of a price cap for basic electricity and gas needs.
The head of the Federal Association of Consumers, Jutta Gurkmann, called for another relief package.
The government must “link financial aid such as the heating subsidy for housing benefit recipients to the actual price development,” she explained in Berlin.
»If, for example, the additional costs for gas prices were to double again, the federal government would also have to increase the heating cost subsidy and other transfer payments accordingly.«
»The state cannot compensate for everything for everyone«
Different ideas came from the Union faction.
In an interview with Funke-Zeitung, Vice-Chairman Jens Spahn suggested, among other things, vouchers that “combine saving energy and money”.
He did not give details.
The CDU politician also called for a reduction in electricity tax.
The chairman of the workers' group of the Union faction, Axel Knoerig, advertised in the Funke newspapers for a "removal allowance independent of income".
Any further relief package from the federal government, according to the CDU politician, “must follow the guideline: Targeted help for those who need it.”
Concrete steps are not to be expected for the time being.
SPD parliamentary secretary Katja Mast said in Berlin that she assumed that there would be an exchange in the coalition committee "in a good atmosphere", "but that no decisions would be made".
Mast referred to the concerted action initiated by Chancellor Scholz, which is scheduled to start in early July.
This is "a clever and far-sighted path" because it enables the government to define further steps together with the social partners.
Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil had previously pointed out the limits of government intervention.
"The state cannot compensate for everything for everyone," the SPD politician told the magazine "Stern" against the background of current demands for a reduction in VAT.
"Basically, I don't see any scope to relieve people who have a very high income." He was open to discussing different measures that specifically relieve people with low and normal incomes.
»We have to cushion the consequences of the price development for the people for whom it really is an existential threat.«
When asked about further relief, Scholz and Heil referred to the planned talks with unions and employers.
This is "the next step" in dealing with the major challenges posed by rising prices, said the head of government.
Apr/AFP/dpa
