“6 billion euros relief”
Union wants to reduce electricity tax to the absolute minimum
September 19, 2023, 8:52 a.m
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The CDU and CSU in the Bundestag are presenting a proposal to reduce the electricity tax to the lowest rate permitted by European law. The Union hopes for the approval of the traffic light coalition. The FDP recently campaigned for a reduction. A vote could take place soon.
The CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag is calling for the electricity tax to be permanently reduced. According to an application available to t-online, the group wants to reduce the tax to the lowest rate permitted by European law. “Electricity is far too expensive in Germany,” said CDU politician and parliamentary group deputy Jens Spahn to the news portal. The CDU is now presenting a concrete proposal that would mean an annual relief of around 6 billion euros for citizens and companies. The proposal is expected to be voted on by name in the Bundestag this week.
It stipulates that the electricity tax will be reduced to “the minimum permitted under European law of 1 euro per megawatt hour for owner-occupiers and final consumers for non-operational purposes and 0.5 euros per megawatt hour for suppliers and final consumers for operational purposes.”
Spahn demands: “If the Chancellor is serious about his Germany pact, then the traffic light agrees to this measure. Everyone benefits from it, from craftsmen to large corporations, and the relief takes effect immediately. Instead, the traffic light has been tangled up in fruitless ones for months Ongoing discussions about an industrial electricity price.”
In addition to the electricity tax, the Union initially also wanted to reduce sales tax. Because this would have affected the states, a corresponding law would have required approval in the Federal Council. Ultimately, that would have meant lower revenue for the federal states. In the current proposal, it was decided to remove the reduction in sales tax. In addition, the electricity tax reduction should no longer be limited to two years, but should apply permanently.
Traffic light coalition has not yet reached agreement
Reinhard Houben, economic policy spokesman for the FDP, recently wrote on the short message service Critics, on the other hand, fear, among other things, that broad relief could create the wrong incentives and that companies would therefore invest less in energy efficiency and transformation.
Andreas Audretsch, deputy head of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, told the Funke newspapers that guarantees must be linked to goals – “such as collective bargaining, location guarantees or plans for the conversion to new climate technologies. It’s about climate-neutral business, new value creation and good jobs .” First of all, it is good that different proposals are on the table, explained Audretsch. “It’s worth having a constructive exchange on this. It’s an important question for many companies and their employees. It’s about future prosperity in Germany.”