the German government forced to revise its copy
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Under pressure from the far right and the far left, the Ministry of the Economy is trying to temporize to avoid an outbreak of anger in the street.
the german government, criticized about its new tax on gas intended to avoid bankruptcies of energy companies, admitted that the device had flaws and wishes to better target the beneficiary companies. “We have a political problem“, recognized the Minister of the Economy Robert Habeck during an intervention in front of entrepreneurs Thursday evening. It is not “certainly not correct that companies which have earned crazy money, come and say ”yes, and for the few losses of income that we have suffered, we are asking for the help of the population (…)”commented the Vice-Chancellor.
The environmental minister has been under pressure since he announced in mid-August a special solidarity levy intended to prevent the bankruptcy of gas importers and distributors, some of whom are facing serious difficulties since the drastic drop in Russian gas deliveries. The money is intended to relieve companies that have to buy gas on the spot market where prices have exploded. This surcharge, from October 1, will increase the bill for German households by several hundred euros.
SEE ALSO – Germany, which fears a shortage of gas, adopts energy saving measures
A tax perceived as unfair
Twelve companies in the energy sector have requested to benefit from the payment of this levy for a sum totaling around 34 billion euros. Among these is the country’s leading gas importer, Uniper, saved this summer from imminent bankruptcy by a public aid plan worth several billion euros. But other companies haveengulfedin the breach, recognized Robert Habeck: “they have really made a lot of money (thanks to soaring energy prices, editor’s note) and do not need the levy“. This situation has generated a flood of criticism in recent days against the inequity of the system, including within the coalition of Social Democrat Olaf Scholz with environmentalists and liberals.
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The government, which has planned to ease the impact of the surcharge by lowering the VAT on gas and increasing aid to the most modest, wants to calm things down as the far left and the far right announce separate demonstrations against rising energy prices. “We are not afraid to make correctionsso that the surcharge is “more focused“, also indicated Thursday evening the Liberal Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner. Robert Habeck, however, warned against the risk of “lawsuitson the part of companies who would consider themselves discriminated against if the system were more selective, recalling that the final challenge was to avoid “a collapse of the gas supply” from the country.
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