190 million euros
Cabinet approves heating subsidy
2/2/2022, 12:16 p.m
According to the will of the traffic light, needy households should receive one-off help in view of high energy prices. Chancellor Scholz’s cabinet has now provided assistance for the coalition law.
The federal government has launched plans for a one-time heating subsidy for over 2.1 million people in need. The cabinet passed a so-called formulation aid, with which the factions of the traffic light coalition are now to introduce a law in the Bundestag. Construction Minister Klara Geywitz said in Berlin that the subsidy would come from June. As a next step, the CO2 price should then be divided between tenants and landlords. “We’ll do that by June 1.”
The total costs for the federal budget from the heating subsidy are estimated in the cabinet proposal at almost 190 million euros. This should benefit households with housing benefit, but also students and trainees who receive state aid. Recipients of housing benefit should receive 135 euros if they live alone and 175 euros in a two-person household. For each additional family member there is 35 euros. 115 euros are provided for trainees.
The federal government is responding to the sharp rise in energy costs with this aid. They hit low-income households disproportionately hard. The housing and real estate association GdW spoke of a positive signal from the federal government. But a long-term solution is also needed. “Therefore, the climate component of the housing allowance, which was also agreed in the coalition agreement, must be introduced and the housing allowance strengthened overall.”
The CSU financial politician Sebastian Brehm called the subsidy “completely insufficient”. The traffic light must return inflation-related additional income from taxes to the citizens.
The federal government is also considering abolishing the EEG surcharge – i.e. the surcharge on the electricity price for the expansion of renewable energies – earlier than 2023. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said this would be possible by mid-2022 at the latest. “One can assume that around 1.1 billion euros are paid by people every month for renewable energies. We don’t need that anymore.” This could be managed with federal funds and would be a noticeable relief for the citizens.