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Manuela Schwesig calls for a rapid energy price cap: "It won't go well for several more weeks"

2022-09-15T23:27:28.511Z


The price of energy for basic needs should be capped for one to two years - this is what Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig proposes. She is urging the federal government to hurry.


Enlarge image

Manuela Schwesig (on August 30)

Photo: Stefan Sauer / dpa

Energy costs are skyrocketing, and many consumers in Germany are feeling uneasy about the approaching cold season.

Of course, the same applies to many companies.

The question is how to mitigate the effects.

An energy price cap is one possibility - and according to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD), one must come quickly.

"I think you can discuss many models, but I don't think that's going to go well for several weeks," said Schwesig on Thursday evening on the ZDF talk show "Maybrit Illner".

Companies and citizens are up to their necks in water.

Looking at the partial invoices, she said: »A master baker and citizen like this asks himself, how am I supposed to manage that?«

Schwesig again campaigned for her proposal to cap the energy price for basic needs for one to two years.

It is important that the state supports this now, "otherwise we will lose support and we don't want that".

At the beginning of September, the federal government announced a new relief package with a focus on energy.

Strictly speaking, it is mainly the electricity and not the gas market.

An electricity price brake is to be introduced there.

In the future, German electricity customers, which is equivalent to all citizens, are to be granted a basic consumption rate that "is to be credited at a reduced price," according to a result paper by the traffic light coalition.

The partial skimming off of excess profits (»random profits« it says in the paper) from electricity providers is intended to relieve consumers.

A European solution should first be found here.

In general, numerous details are still unclear.

Questions about Nord Stream 2

On the talk show, Schwesig was also asked about her long-standing support for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which ultimately did not go into operation due to the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The Prime Minister said that with today's knowledge, she would no longer take this stance.

The climate foundation, which has been the subject of criticism, was founded in early 2021 to circumvent the threat of sanctions by then US President Donald Trump against the constitutionally approved construction of the line.

Schwesig received support from DGB Chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi.

This said that it is not just about Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's responsibility.

It was the decision of the Federal Republic that Germany got out of nuclear power and coal and defined gas as a bridge to the age of renewable energies.

"Now to act as if some lonely decision was made unilaterally out of self-interest, that's really not correct."

jok/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-09-15

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