Even before the start of the Ukraine war, private households in Germany had to pay more for gas and electricity.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Politicians from the SPD and CDU have called on energy suppliers to stop shutting off gas and electricity because of unpaid bills in view of the sharp rise in energy prices. “Energy supply is a service of general interest,” said the energy policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Nina Scheer, to the Handelsblatt. “Energy cuts contradict this basic understanding, especially when the inability to pay is due to circumstances through no fault of their own, such as the current energy price crisis.”
The Schleswig-Holstein SPD top candidate Thomas Losse-Müller suggested extending the price increases in installments over two or three years. “I call on all energy suppliers to implement such generous deferral regulations,” Losse-Müller told Handelsblatt. “The federal and state governments can support this by granting the suppliers liquidity aid to expand their financial leeway.”
The CDU housing politician Jan-Marco Luczak also advocated the suspension of gas barriers. “Against the background of sharply rising energy prices, the energy supply companies in particular have a high social responsibility,” said the member of the Bundestag. “Energy blocks have always been the last resort, and it must remain so in the future.”
It is already foreseeable that citizens will have to prepare for significant burdens. “We will continue to have to expect higher prices,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) on Monday in Berlin after a meeting with associations of medium-sized businesses. The state cannot absorb all energy price increases, neither for companies nor for consumers. “That’s the bitter and the hard truth.”
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The sharp rise in energy prices has also been driving inflation for months. The Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24 further fuels the development. According to preliminary data from the Federal Office in Wiesbaden, people in Germany had to spend 35.3 percent more on household energy and fuel in April than in the same month last year. In March it was even 39.5 percent more.
The call for a third relief package is getting louder
Food prices in April were 8.5 percent above the previous year’s level, in March it was 6.2 percent. Inflation rates that were as high as in March and April of this year were last seen in the old federal states in autumn 1981, when mineral oil prices also rose significantly as a result of the effects of the first Gulf War.
In view of the price development, the federal government has already put together two so-called relief packages. The new relief package alone, which the federal government has launched in the past, is expected to cost more than 15 billion euros.
>> Read also: Prices and wages: who pays the bill?
Among other things, there should be a tank discount by reducing the energy tax on fuel for a limited period of three months. Employed persons who are subject to income tax are to receive a one-time lump sum of 300 euros gross to compensate for the high energy costs.
However, the question is: are the planned relief for citizens sufficient? Doubts about this are now growing. “It is foreseeable that we will need a third relief package in the course of the year,” said SPD politician Losse-Müller.
There is still no sign of “sustainable relaxation” on the energy markets, and the supply situation could worsen at any time. Losse-Müller called for pensioners to be included in the payment of the energy money. This instrument is basically “very clever” because consumers can decide for themselves how to use the additional funds.
Tenants’ association calls for a moratorium on terminations
The CSU consumer politician Volker Ullrich also called for the flat-rate energy price to be extended to pensioners, mini-jobbers, students and small businesses. “Quite a few of these groups are wondering how they should pay for the high energy prices,” Ullrich told Handelsblatt. “There is an urgent need for improvement here.” Some social organizations had already called for this.
>> Read also: Heating of the future: How geothermal energy could supply Germany with heat
In view of the massive price increases, North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Construction Ina Scharrenbach (CDU) called for the VAT on electricity, gas and district heating deliveries to be reduced to the reduced tax rate of seven percent. Affordable energy is part of the public service. “Therefore, the traffic light government in the federal government is also obliged to prevent imminent energy poverty with corresponding relief through the reduction in VAT,” said Scharrenbach.
The CDU politician called the federal government’s previous relief packages “piecemeal”. As an example, she cited the large group of pensioners who are left with nothing from their pension increase due to high inflation. “How are they supposed to pay the high additional demands for heating costs?”
Scharrenbach advocated that housing companies should increase advance payments in consultation with their tenants. “Everyone will not simply be able to make higher advance payments,” warned the CDU politician.
The German Tenants’ Association goes even further. “We need a termination moratorium,” said association president Lukas Siebenkotten to the Handelsblatt. This is intended to ensure “that no one may be terminated who cannot pay their utility bills on time due to sharply increased heating costs”.
More: Up to 890 euros less taxes: That’s how much savings the federal government’s relief packages bring.