The high energy prices make many productions unprofitable.
(Photo: obs)
Brussels, Berlin Guarantees, subsidized loans and energy cost subsidies: The EU Commission wants to enable its member states to support companies in need. As in the corona crisis, state aid should now also be possible in the Ukraine war. This emerges from a paper that is currently being finalized by the EU Commission. The Handelsblatt has a draft for this.
In the event of “extraordinarily large increases in gas and electricity prices”, the states could intervene with “direct grants, tax and payment relief or other forms such as repayable advances, guarantees, loans and participations”.
However, there are upper limits. The draft speaks of 30 percent of the eligible costs up to a maximum of two million euros. Both values are in square brackets, which usually means that there is no final decision yet.
Should companies also experience payment difficulties, the states can also support companies directly in the form of guarantees or subsidized loans. There will be limits here too. The draft speaks of ten percent of the annual turnover or 30 percent of the annual energy costs. If the member states want to go further, they have to get the approval of the Commission.
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“The measures are a real first step, but they have to be checked regularly,” said CSU MEP Markus Ferber. “If the war in Ukraine and the energy price crisis last longer, the permitted amounts of aid will quickly turn out to be too low.”
The federal government is already in the starting blocks
The EU paper is urgently awaited in Berlin. In the federal government there are some ideas for economic aid. What can be implemented depends on what opportunities Brussels opens up, several government representatives confirmed to the Handelsblatt. Discussions are therefore about compensation payments or direct help. In addition, simplified access to short-time work benefits could be extended.
>> Read here: Ikea, Renault, BP, Ferrero – That’s how hard the Russia sanctions hit Europe’s corporations
A separate aid package is also being worked on for the battered energy industry. The 600 billion euro Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) from the corona crisis, with which Lufthansa, among other things, was saved, could be rededicated for this. The WSF would currently be the largest conceivable tool.
The money from the fund can be used for direct investments as well as for loan guarantees. However, the legal hurdles for a reallocation are correspondingly high. There may have to be stricter requirements.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has already officially announced a loan program from the state KfW development bank. The program should start soon. The loan program also depends on the relaxation of the state aid framework by the EU Commission.
The energy industry in particular is suffering from the current situation. According to Handelsblatt information, the federal government has already received the application from the energy company VNG for a KfW loan worth billions because the company fears that it will not be able to cushion a gas supply stop from Russia.
Calls for broad-based state aid are also increasing in industry. A wave of bankruptcies is feared in energy-intensive sectors such as metal, glass, paper and chemicals.
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