FDP leader Christian Lindner no longer seems to believe in the self-regulatory powers of the market. On Sunday evening, the Finance Minister released his plans for a tank discount through the “Bild” newspaper.
To offset the recent rapid rise in gasoline and diesel prices for motorists, the Liberal proposes that the state artificially lower the price at the gas station at a discount. Actually a pushback for liberals, but opinion swings have been on the rise since the start of the Ukraine war.
“Crisis discount fuels,” Lindner called the move Monday at a news conference. “The state should not leave citizens and the economy alone with rising prices,” said the finance minister, outlining his proposal. Gas stations would continue to display actual prices. At the checkout, customers would automatically receive a discount like discount card holders at the supermarket.
[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
The state will have to spend a fair amount of money on this. The ten-cent monthly allowance for diesel and gasoline costs €550 million in tax revenue, says Lindner. “It will have to be more than ten cents and more than a month if I get away with it.”
The measure is not intended for owners of electric or gasoline vehicles, whose prices have recently increased. “By the nature of things, this proposal only applies to those who are affected by the increase in the price of oil on the world market,” said Lindner, who continues to reject a speed limit to save fuel.
More about the Ukrainian war on Tagesspiegel Plus:
On ZDF’s “heute journal” on Monday night, when asked what the chances were that he would finally get over this, the FDP leader said: “High.” Lindner went on to say: “We should be guided by the two euro mark, that should be the reference point at the beginning of this measure.”
Families, travelers and merchants should not be left alone with prices on the rise. “This is not the only relief measure we need, but it is important and urgent.”
A “fixed crisis discount” could be 30 or 40 cents, Lindner said. She spoke of a temporary measure. Lindner spoke to the “Rheinische Post” about a subsidy of 40 cents per liter for a limited period of three months. That would cost the state about 6.6 billion euros, Lindner said. The concrete design is still open in the government. “If it’s up to me, we will end up with the tank discount at less than two euros per liter of diesel and gasoline.”
Strong criticism of the plans comes from the Greens. Economy Minister Robert Habeck accepted the proposal publicly on Sunday night. “You can do a little better,” the green politician said on the ARD talk “Anne Will.” Habeck criticized that a discount on the tank does not lead to greater efficiency or a free market incentive to use less gasoline.
Greens promote energy money
His party is now promoting energy money that would be paid to all citizens. This means that everyone has more in their account, but the poorest would benefit the most, Greens leader Ricarda Lang said on Monday: “Energy money has both a broad impact and a targeted impact and therefore Therefore, it is a useful tool for relief”.
The Greens’ transport policy spokesman, Stefan Gelbhaar, also does not consider Lindner’s proposal socially fair. “Unfortunately, fuel vouchers would just be an expensive window dressing policy. In percentage terms, people with large vehicles would benefit the most,” the Berlin MP told the Tagesspiegel.
Rather, people should be encouraged to use less gasoline and, where possible, to switch to buses and trains. “To avoid increases in bus and train ticket prices, it should be checked whether the public transport rescue package is effective here,” the transport politician said.
Criticism of Lindner’s plans also surfaced in the SPD, which mainly promotes a higher surcharge for the cost of heating: “We do not want a subsidy program for the oil industry, but rather support citizens with high prices for gas, electricity and fuels,” he said. the faction’s sociopolitical spokesman, Martin Rosemann, the daily mirror.
But criticism of Lindner’s tank discount wasn’t just heard Monday among coalition partners. The gas station association ZTG announced unusually sharply: “That would have been literally shot from behind in the chest,” said managing director Jürgen Ziegner. The association is primarily concerned with implementation: a price reduction granted at the gas station is the wrong way to go and “highly bureaucratic”, the association emphasized.
After all, the FDP chairman seems to have the backing of most Germans. In a representative poll conducted by the Civey Institute on behalf of the Tagesspiegel, 77 percent of respondents were in favor of a fuel price brake, only 15 percent rejected it. For Lindner and the FDP, this is a chance to score.
In less than two weeks there will be elections in Saarland, where the Liberals have not yet sat in parliament. Even more important for the liberals are the elections on May 8 in Schleswig-Holstein and on May 15 in North Rhine-Westphalia. In both countries, the FDP is in government and would like to remain so.
Union wants reduction of 40 cents
Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU), who is under a lot of pressure due to the polls, had already called for a fuel price brake in a mobile phone video in front of a gas station last week and announced a initiative of the Federal Council to reduce VAT. On Monday, Union Deputy Leader Jens Spahn even called for a reduction of 40 cents per liter through tax cuts.
However, the FDP leadership rejected this on Monday. “Relief through a tax cut, as proposed by the Union, takes too long and brings too little,” the leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, told this newspaper. A tax cut would have to be agreed at European level first and could only result in savings of around 15 cents. Liberals find it too little.
In any case, the money for a possible additional aid package seems to be available. “We’ll fund it out of the budget,” Lindner said. In a Finance Ministry presentation for the budget, which is available to the Tagesspiegel, she says: “It is foreseeable that the war in Ukraine will affect the economic dynamics in Germany.” purpose.
Source link