Politics of a piece? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. The SPD, Greens and FDP are in a tug-of-war over the right answers to the cost explosion. There are two core problems behind the whole bickering.
Rising prices here, relief there, fuel discounts and monthly tickets – many citizens have long since lost track in the tangle of additional costs and government relief.
But the federal government isn’t exactly making it easy for them either. The SPD, Greens and FDP have been struggling for help for the citizens for weeks. With the state gas levy, they decide to add additional costs for around every second household – only to then cushion them again with a tax cut.
It is to be expected that in the end there will be a minus for many people. And it shows impressively how things are with this governing coalition of three very different parties.
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Problem 1: The basic convictions with which the SPD, Greens and FDP face the crisis with the Ukraine war, scarce gas and high prices differ significantly. All three say that the state cannot absorb 100 percent of the increased prices for the citizens.
But who exactly should be supported now? Even those who, from the point of view of many, do not need it at all? Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his FDP name three groups: the needy, the working middle class and the energy-intensive economy. “We need the right instruments for each of these areas,” says the FDP leader.
Or should the state primarily help those in need who are threatened by a cold winter with unpaid bills? The Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck, in particular, but also many in the SPD are demanding this.
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the mediator hovering over the differences, likes to speak of a “total package” – the symbiosis of two worlds, so to speak, that of Lindner and that of Habeck.
Creating something new from the differences, as the government planned to do when the coalition agreement was signed in November, only works to a limited extent: In the second relief package, Lindner got his tank discount, the Greens got their 9-euro ticket.
The next surcharge should not be quite as extensive, but will probably include: tax relief, housing benefit reform, help for low earners, a citizen’s allowance – plus X, that is still being negotiated. “Then we’ll add it up and see if we can afford it,” Scholz said at the summer appearance at the federal press conference. “My feeling is that we will be able to do this.”
Which leads to problem 2: The financial situation of the federal government is different than when Scholz was Finance Minister. After record debts due to the corona pandemic, the money is no longer so loose that it could be used to conceal the differences in the coalition.
Especially since Lindner insists on compliance with the debt brake in the coming year, which sets strict limits on federal spending. Scholz has to act more and more as a mediator between two camps.
For example, when he defends Lindner’s return to the strict debt brake in response to journalists’ questions, which many in his party and the Greens reject in view of the current challenges. But as chancellor, the SPD politician must also ensure that the coalition team holds – and not give the impression that the Greens and SPD are opposed to the FDP.
Because failure is not an option for this government, no matter how crunchy it may be. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is creating unity where one would never have expected it: for rearmament, massive wind turbine expansion and more electricity from climate-damaging coal.
But the crisis is also forcing politicians to make one urgent decision after another – as soon as one fire is out, a new one blazes. Not to mention the ongoing problem of climate change, which continues to progress.
Gas importers are threatened with bankruptcy – then gas customers are asked to pay a levy to prevent worse for consumers. But can people really be expected to make extra payments of up to several hundred euros per year?
So VAT down. Which is clearly not enough to compensate for the additional burden, even if Chancellor Scholz sounded different on Thursday. Further relief is to follow.
Even if Scholz is visibly trying to radiate calm, recently even in English (“You’ll never walk alone”), even if he recently visited turbines and announced tax decisions on the gas levy, so the core issue of energy was not addressed to Vice Chancellor and politician Habeck for so long leaves – the impression that the federal government is pursuing a common line in the crisis does not arise.
The recipes that the three traffic light partners derive from their respective party-political convictions are simply too different for that.
And it goes on. Decisions about additional relief are in the house, about budget funds for the coming year and the possible extended operation of German nuclear power plants. The traffic light has to keep going – or at least muddle through.
