Traffic light coalition agree on further relief

Created: 09/04/2022Updated: 09/04/2022 07:20

By: Katarina Amtmann

The traffic light coalition has agreed on further relief.

(Archive image) © IMAGO / Christian Spicker

The traffic light coalition has agreed on a third relief package for people in Germany in view of the high prices.

Update from September 4th, 7:05 a.m.:

Agreement in the Chancellery: After a marathon of negotiations, there is a third relief package to compensate for the drastic price increases.

However, details will be announced later.

After hours of negotiations, the coalition agreed on further financial relief for the citizens of Germany.

The German Press Agency (dpa) learned this on Sunday morning from negotiating circles in Berlin.

Details were not initially known.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) does not want to announce the results until 11 a.m. at a press conference.

The Chancellery had already announced this during the ongoing deliberations of the leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP.

Coalition agrees on relief - Scholz announces results at 11 a.m

Negotiations began on Saturday afternoon (September 3rd).

A package of targeted relief was planned to compensate for the drastic price increases in the wake of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

The summit meeting was preceded by weeks of discussions.

In addition to Scholz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) took part in the negotiations.

Other ministers and the leaders of the three parliamentary groups and parties were also gathered in the Chancellery.

The pressure on the coalition partners had continued to grow before the decision was made.

They had also raised expectations themselves.

Lindner and SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich had spoken of a "massive package".

Relief - who gets how much money?

Scholz had announced "the most targeted relief package possible".

At a cabinet meeting in the middle of the week, Scholz announced a relief package that was “as tailor-made as possible, as efficient as possible, as targeted as possible”.

Among other things, targeted help for pensioners and students, tax cuts and a successor regulation for the 9-euro local transport ticket were discussed.

During the exam in Meseberg near Berlin, Scholz said: "We are working on a large building, and the architecture of this building depends on all the individual parts, which only result in a good construction together."

With the first two relief packages, the electricity price surcharge to promote renewable energies (EEG surcharge) was abolished, there is an energy flat rate of 300 euros for all employees and a one-off payment of 100 to 200 euros for all unemployed, child benefit was increased once by 100 euros per child, fuel prices were supported for three months until August, and there was a 9-euro ticket for local public transport for the months of June, July and August.

According to their own statements, unions, the left and the AfD may want to call on dissatisfied people to protest in the fall.

IG Metall Chairman Jörg Hofmann told the German Press Agency: "It's about nothing less than the question of whether it will be possible to relieve the burden on citizens effectively and comprehensibly, or whether the growing uncertainty will lead to a break in social cohesion leads."

Traffic light coalition agree on further relief

Berlin - The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP has agreed on a third relief package for people in Germany in view of high prices.

The German press agency in Berlin learned this on Sunday morning from negotiating circles.

Further information follows.