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Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus
Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP
Perhaps some motorists hoped that there would be no higher gasoline prices with a future Union-led government.
Group leader Ralph Brinkhaus has now made a clear statement.
"Petrol is getting more expensive, now a little, in the second half of this decade it will be really more expensive," said the CDU politician in the ARD "Morgenmagazin".
The fight against climate change will "not be in vain".
It is important to create realistic and fair transition periods that are long enough to allow people to switch.
You have to clearly signal, "Petrol is getting more expensive, but you don't have to sell your cars right away," said Brinkhaus.
That is also harmful to the environment.
Instead, people should slowly adjust to switching to electric cars or cars that use much less gasoline.
This applies not only to gasoline, but also to heating.
Brinkhaus referred to the federal government's funding programs for the replacement of old heating systems and the switch to electromobility.
"And that's the plan: up prices, subsidies so that you can adapt accordingly."
The Greens - especially Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock - had come under fire in the past few days because they had also promised higher gasoline prices.
The grand coalition of the Union and the SPD had decided the CO₂ price itself within the framework of the Climate Protection Act.
Since the beginning of the year, oil and gas have had a CO2 price of 25 euros per ton.
According to the previous law, this price should rise to 55 euros by 2025.
According to calculations, this would mean a surcharge of at least 15.5 cents for a liter of gasoline.
Altmaier: Green proposals on climate protection favor high earners
The Greens are calling for the increase in the CO2 price to be brought forward and to increase it to 60 euros per ton as early as 2023.
Fuel would then become more expensive by around 16 cents per liter by 2023.
At the same time, the Greens propose that government revenues from the CO2 price be returned to the citizens in order to avoid social upheaval.
Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) accused the Greens of socially unbalanced proposals in the "Wirtschaftswoche" issue of climate protection.
Their proposals favored high-earning city dwellers over citizens in the countryside.
Altmaier expressed himself in a double interview with the head of the BDEW energy association, Kerstin Andreae.
as / AFP / dpa