A successor to the 9-euro ticket, financial relief for everyone and a skimming off of random profits from energy producers: the coalition agreed on a third relief package over the weekend. “We will not leave anyone alone,” declared Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the results of the long negotiations. While on the one hand there is a lot of support for the results, many voices of criticism can also be heard, including from the ranks of the opposition.
In ZDF’s “Morgenmagazin” on Monday, CDU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn made it clear what he thought of the relief package. What the SPD and the Greens had decided was far too vague. The content of the paper is “more of a work program for the government than really an immediately effective relief program,” says Spahn.
An electricity price brake is good, but “nobody knows at what price, nobody knows when it will come into force”. A follow-up regulation for the 9-euro ticket is also a good idea, but “whether, when, what, how, is completely open”. On top of that, according to the CDU politician, there are still large gaps. “The most pressing problem for most citizens is the high price of gas. A commission of experts is set up, the citizens are put off. ”In Spahn’s opinion there is little concrete and many vague statements. The sum that was put in the room, “it sounds pretty good, but if you look closely, little is left”.
300 euros for pensioners, 200 euros for students, 18 euros more child benefit – moderator Andreas Wunn points out that there are definitely concrete measures listed in the third relief package. According to Spahn, these are “without a doubt correct”, but they are “too little and too little focused”.
“I would rather have 1,000 to 2,000 euros for people with small and medium-sized incomes than 300 euros for all pensioners again,” explains the CDU politician. So the measure is not particularly targeted. “For a family of four that gets by on 2,500 euros net, which is having a hard time with these high energy prices, they get 36 euros a month for the two children. That’s all the support.” In principle, what is planned is quite reasonable, but on the whole “not particularly goal-oriented and where there could be something concrete, only headings are set”.
Another point in the relief package: So-called random profits from energy companies should be able to be skimmed off. “I’m curious at first, since it’s also very vague and unspecific what random prizes are. Just the term, what does that mean, random profit, how do you define it and how is it skimmed off?” Spahn is critical again. It is a “reasonable approach” to skim off the unexpected profit of the company in the current situation of scarcity. But “whether, when and how that will happen, you won’t find anything in the paper about that either”.
A follow-up solution for the popular 9-euro ticket was also eagerly awaited. A nationwide uniform solution is “fundamentally reasonable”, said Spahn, especially in view of the different, sometimes confusing tariff areas throughout the country. However, up to now we have “not spoken to the federal states” on any of these issues. “If they lower taxes, if they do something with sales tax or income tax or if they need a 9-euro ticket successor regulation, then the federal states have to participate,” said the parliamentary group leader. Because the federal states help finance it, “they organize it”. For this reason, “there should have been a prime ministers’ conference before these decisions were made.” A lot of money is being distributed that is actually due to the states and municipalities, “you have to talk to each other about that”.
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The original of this post “Citizens put off with the “most pressing problem” – Spahn attacks the government” comes from Teleschau.
