Energy price cap, debt brake: action by the federal government

Created: 2022-09-20Updated: 2022-09-20 18:01

Reiner Haseloff (CDU) speaks.

© Peter Gercke/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Archive image

At the beginning of the month, the federal government announced the third relief package worth 65 billion euros.

The countries have to finance a large part.

Saxony-Anhalt demands more than one-off payments.

Magdeburg - Saxony-Anhalt is demanding rapid relief from energy prices from the federal government.

"I hereby demand that again: We need a gas price cap and we need one as quickly as possible, both for the economy and for consumers," said Energy and Environment Minister Armin Willingmann (SPD) on Tuesday in Magdeburg a cabinet meeting.

Nor can one wait for excess profits or chance profits to be skimmed off.

Rather, it must be considered whether the state would not make advance payments.

"Now it would contribute a lot to political calming if we quickly came to a cap on energy prices overall," said Willingmann.

Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) said he supports it. Society must be relieved.

This could happen through one-time relief payments.

"But you can't do that all the time, that would mean that the economy would be completely overwhelmed.

Conversely, that means we have to come up with different prices.

That is the big task that we have to solve.”

In the coming week, the Prime Ministers' Conference will deal with the third relief package planned by the federal government.

Haseloff emphasized that an intensive study is necessary in view of the large financial volume.

The countries bear half or even more of the costs.

Energy Minister Willingmann emphasized the emergency situation.

“There was no greater economic crisis after World War II than this.

And the idea that we are now slavishly sticking to the debt brake does not convince me, at least.” In his view, this discussion urgently needs to be held at federal level and with the prime ministers.

Haseloff said, "There will have to be special decisions."

Even if many previous plans of the state government were thrown overboard with the gas crisis, the state has updated its sustainability strategy from 2018.

On Tuesday, the cabinet approved a new version presented by Willingmann.

The minister emphasized that in all likelihood more coal would have to be converted into electricity again in order to ensure security of supply in Germany.

This could lead to a renewed increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

In the coalition agreement, the CDU, SPD and FDP still relied heavily on gas.

Willingmann emphasized that the goal must be the even more intensive expansion of renewable energies.

Among other things, the proportion of carbon dioxide emissions should be reduced from 30 to 18 million tons by 2030.

So far, no reduction target had been set, it said.

The share of renewable energies in the final energy consumption of companies and households should increase from 26 to 45 percent.

In addition, the resealing of areas is to be limited, and the proportion of organic farming is to be increased from the current 9.4 to 20 percent.

dpa