Parliamentary operations are on summer break. But whether the members of the Bundestag will actually return to Berlin at the beginning of September is far from certain. Because the crises don’t take a break – and the Germans have clear demands on what the government needs to do.
The Bundestag has said goodbye to the parliamentary summer recess. But with the Ukraine war, the gas crisis and the ongoing corona pandemic, there has rarely been a summer as troubled as this one. And all crises could come to a head at any time and require rapid political intervention.
It is therefore quite possible that the parliamentarians will have to return from vacation earlier. Especially since the Germans are currently giving the government a rather bad report. The opinion research institute Insa asked for the “Bild am Sonntag” which issues the government urgently needs to address from the point of view of the citizens.
First place: Fighting inflation (65%). Then follow:
Striking: The Ukraine war and the corona pandemic were only mentioned by a minority as the most important topics. 86% of all Germans find compliance with the debt brake unimportant. FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner, currently on a wedding tour, has been asking for this for weeks.
The high gas and energy prices, on the other hand, are of particular concern to the Germans. Pensioner Susanne C. shows her updated gas bill in “Bild am Sonntag”: instead of €140, she now has to pay a deduction of €297. “All because of one weirdo – where is this going to lead?”
Readers’ call: Have the prices for gas and electricity also increased where you are? Write us your story to mein-bericht@focus.de
A nurse also tells the newspaper something similar. “My family and I are quite shocked. We have additional costs of 1,572 euros per year simply due to price increases for electricity, gas and property tax. We have been paying 60 euros more per month for natural gas since July. And the municipality has debts and of course increases taxes. Instead of 186 euros a year, it is now 325 euros.”
And another reader says that he now pays almost 6,000 euros a year for heating oil instead of 2,500 euros. The bitter conclusion: “There’s no vacation next year.”
The traffic light government will also have a lot to do during the parliamentary summer holidays. In any case, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) advised MPs to “regularly check their mailboxes”. Because: “It may be that I organize an obligatory business trip to Berlin for you. I hope that doesn’t happen like that.”