Energy crisis topic at Illner
Spahn wants to call the Bundestag out of vacation
By Marko Schlichting
08/19/2022, 04:28 am
After Chancellor Scholz announced that he would apply the reduced VAT rate of seven percent to the gas surcharge due from October, there was criticism from the opposition. Union faction vice Spahn speaks on Thursday evening on the ZDF talk show Maybrit Illner of chaos politics.
The deputy chairman of the Union faction, Jens Spahn, has called for a special session of parliament in the coming week. “The gas levy has become a chaos levy,” he criticized on Maybrit Illner on ZDF on Thursday evening. The government is transferring its internal political chaos to the German citizens. Spahn called for targeted financial relief for people with low and medium earnings. He also wants an extension of nuclear power plants. “Let’s end the confusion, let’s pass a law,” the CDU politician appealed to the federal government.
After the announcement of the amount of the gas surcharge due from October 1st, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner tried to obtain a VAT exemption from the EU Commission. However, this violates applicable EU law, according to Brussels. According to EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, a VAT of at least five percent must be levied on the gas surcharge. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Thursday that the reduced VAT rate of seven percent should apply to the gas surcharge.
The problem with this: Suppliers such as the public utility company must inform private households in writing at least six weeks before a price increase and the future price. This was confirmed on Thursday evening by the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, at Illner. Mathematically, this date is tomorrow, Saturday. But Müller says: “I am firmly convinced that the federal government is absolutely able to implement everything in a legally compliant manner.”
One possibility would be to postpone the gas levy, as consumer advocate Ramona Pop had called for last week. The head of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations had requested that the start of the levy be postponed by at least a month. This time can be used to clarify “open questions”, says Pop.
“Contribution burden for everyone”
Left boss Janine Wissler does not agree at all with the gas levy. As a result, the costs would be passed on to consumers, according to the politician at Illner. “What the federal government is doing is completely unbalanced.” Wissler demands that suppliers threatened by the energy crisis be saved from tax revenue. It therefore demands the introduction of an excess profit tax.
Arndt Kirchhoff is not at all enthusiastic about this. The President of the Association of the Metal and Electrical Industry North Rhine-Westphalia has concerns that such a tax violates the constitution. In addition, it is not clear to him when a win is an excess win. “There are no excess profits,” he says succinctly. The whole thing is a populist discussion. There were more important things to think about and that was supporting the citizens and the industrial companies that safeguarded jobs.
Omid Nouripour is also concerned with the citizens. “The surcharge is a burden for everyone,” says the Greens boss. “The burden on smaller purses is enormous,” he has recognized, and is therefore calling for a third package of measures from the federal government. And he is sure: that will also come. “We will have to do a lot more to ensure that people get through the winter well.”
“We don’t want a tax increase”
It is clear to Nouripour that now is not the time for tax increases. In the talks in the traffic light coalition, which are to take place in the next few days, the debt brake must be discussed again, he demands. According to the wishes of Finance Minister Lindner, this should be observed again in the future.
Jens Spahn is above all dissatisfied with the bureaucratic effort for the gas surcharge. This is important, but could also have been financed from the federal budget. Nouripour also admits that the path the government is now taking could act like a crutch. “But it’s important what comes out at the end, and that’s a relief.”