Household talk at Illner
“Just change provider!”
By Marko Schlichting
December 15, 2023, 4:19 a.m
At the last moment, the traffic light coalition agreed on a federal budget for the coming year. If everything goes well, the budget can be passed by the Bundestag on January 19th. At “Maybrit Illner” the guests discuss what citizens will soon have to pay.
German citizens will face additional costs next year – primarily for heating, electricity and fuel. This is what the new federal budget for 2024 provides, which the guests will discuss in the evening on the ZDF talk show “Maybrit Illner”. But details are difficult to estimate, because Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the SPD, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from the Greens and Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP sat together until early Wednesday morning to draw up the new budget. There is hardly any written information.
It is now clear: the debt brake should be adhered to and the transformation of the economy should be promoted. The budget should also reflect the social component.
However, according to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the federal government has 17 billion euros less available than planned. Afterwards, Chancellor Scholz promised the citizens in the Bundestag: “The ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court will not change anything in your everyday life, here and today.” This looks different now.
“A big word”
“That was a big word, saying there are no changes at all,” explains Green Party leader Ricarda Lang at Illner. She then explains the increase in the CO2 price: “We are going back to the path that was already planned by the grand coalition. At that time it was planned without relief. We have initiated massive relief in the last two years.” She cites income tax cuts as an example. “By abolishing the EEG levy, we will pay 85 percent of what comes in through the CO2 price back to the citizens.”
According to Lang, the reduction in electricity tax will also provide relief for companies. Finally, the attacks on the welfare state, for which the Union parties are primarily responsible, were also repelled. Citizens’ allowance would be increased and basic child benefits would be introduced.
“The citizen has to pay more”
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr explains that the federal government wants to create further work incentives for citizens’ benefit recipients. However, he cannot say exactly what this should look like. However, “total refusers” who refused to work with the job centers should be punished more severely. Journalist Kristina Dunz from the Editorial Network Germany points out that there are only very few people involved, which Dürr denies. But Dunz hits the mark with her criticism: Although there are no current figures, in 2020, according to the “Merkur” from Munich, just 0.9 percent of Hartz 4 recipients at the time refused to attend appointments at the job center.
“Citizens have to pay more,” says Hermann-Josef Tenhagen, editor-in-chief of the money guide Finanztip. However, that doesn’t have much to do with this week’s decisions. The abolition of the energy price caps at the end of the year will be felt by people who heat with gas, and district heating customers will be hit even harder. In addition, the VAT on gas will be increased, and then there will be higher CO2 taxes.
No violation of the constitution
Helge Braun from the CDU praises the fact that the debt brake should be adhered to. At the moment there are no exact plans in writing, says the chairman of the budget committee in the Bundestag. But Braun is convinced: “There are a few booking tricks, combined with the additional burden on citizens.” And Braun threatens: “If the debt brake were to be suspended again with the emergency declaration for things that are already in the past, that are already known or that are unsuitable in terms of amount, you have to say clearly: The Union is not available to do that, no matter to achieve what good purpose violates the Basic Law.”
He may be referring to Chancellor Scholz’s announcement that if the war in Ukraine escalates, he will request an “exceeding resolution” in the Bundestag. Braun says he looked in the Basic Law and didn’t find such a term there. He can’t either. In fact, there is only an “exceeding decision” with which some universities grant students a deferment of their degrees if they have exceeded the standard period of study.
At the end, Hermann-Josef Tenhagen gives a real savings tip: “Citizens simply have to do a lot more themselves,” he advises. The current electricity price is currently 44 cents per kilowatt hour. When switching, new customers often only have to pay 32 cents. A change in gas provider could also bring lower prices. Tenhagen’s tip: “Just switch!”