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Bundestag in Berlin
Photo: Christoph Soeder / dpa
German companies are suffering from high energy costs and there is a risk of bankruptcies.
That is why Robert Habeck's (Greens) Federal Ministry of Economics is currently working flat out on a new relief program for the economy.
The Vice Chancellor has his sights set primarily on small and medium-sized companies, which he wants to support with aid.
But anyone who demands money from the state should not get it without conditions.
The traffic light coalition is planning to intervene in the entrepreneurial autonomy of companies that receive money from the federal relief package because of rising energy costs.
The factions of the SPD, Greens and FDP have submitted the motion to the Bundestag.
This gives him a good chance of being accepted.
Broad Ban
It is planned that these companies will not be allowed to issue “dividends, bonuses, special payments in the form of share packages or other separate remuneration in addition to the fixed salary for their executive bodies”.
This incision should apply to all “government support measures in connection with the Ukraine crisis”.
The ban is broad and would also apply to the planned relief for small and medium-sized companies, as currently being prepared by the federal government.
The owners should also make their own contribution to state aid.
The federal government should also make regulations so that "distributions to the shareholders" or "high salary structures for the management" do not endanger the company's liquidity.
The initiative for the bonus ban comes from the budget politicians Dennis Rohde (SPD), Otto Fricke (FDP) and Sven-Christian Kindler (Greens).
As part of the third relief package, the government is planning a cost containment program from which small businesses such as bakeries and craftsmen should also benefit.
They should get help according to the energy share in their production.
A threshold of three percent is under discussion, possibly less.
Smaller companies should also be relieved of the obligation to make complicated loss calculations to get the funds.
That's what Federal Economics Minister Habeck promised last week at the Employers' Day in Berlin.
They wanted to "let the five straight", he said to the entrepreneurs present.
So far, corporations and private households in particular have benefited from support.
GT
