Scholz goes before the vote
SPD parliamentary group unanimously for industrial electricity price
08/28/2023, 7:31 p.m
At their closed conference in Wiesbaden, the SPD members of the Bundestag gave the concept for a state-subsidized industrial electricity price a resounding yes. The chancellor, who is skeptical about the suggestion, similar to that of the FDP, is no longer there – and is otherwise holding back.
In the absence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the SPD parliamentary group decided on its concept for a state-subsidized industrial electricity price. It should initially be limited to five years, amount to five cents per kilowatt hour and apply to companies particularly affected by high energy costs. The state is supposed to cover the difference to the average market electricity price, which is currently around 8.95 cents.
According to the participants, the deputies of the largest government faction unanimously decided on the position paper at their closed conference in Wiesbaden, Hesse. Scholz, who is one of the 206 MPs in the largest government group, left the meeting before the debate began. In a speech at the beginning of the exam, he did not position himself on the paper. He had repeatedly expressed skepticism about the subsidy in the past few weeks and even rejected permanent state aid.
Mützenich: “You can’t always say no”
With a time limit of initially five years, his SPD wants to build a bridge for him. The topic also harbors new potential for conflict for the traffic light government. The FDP rejects the subsidy, the Greens are in favor. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich appealed to the FDP not to object to the industrial electricity price. “You can’t always say no,” he said to the Liberals. He pointed out that supporting the competitiveness of German companies is also part of the “party-political tradition” of the Liberals.
According to the SPD parliamentary group, the temporary state aid should primarily relieve companies that consume a lot of energy. In addition, there are the key sectors for a climate-friendly conversion of the German economy, for example producers of wind turbines, solar systems, batteries or heat pumps. This is to ensure that the so-called transformation to a climate-friendly economy continues to gain momentum.
Financed from a special fund
The subsidy is to be financed via the Economic Stabilization Fund – a special fund of the federal government, from which the energy price brakes are paid. However, this requires significantly less money than expected.
Scholz only took part in the closed meeting for an hour and a half. Even before the vote on the housing concept, which was also controversial in the traffic light government, he disappeared again and stayed in another room of the conference hotel for a while during the discussion on economic policy and the industrial electricity price before he left for Berlin. Appointments in the capital were given as the reason for the short flying visit during the exam.
The position paper on the subject of housing, which was also unanimously adopted, calls for stricter restrictions on rent increases. In areas with a tense housing market, they should not be allowed to rise by more than six percent in three years and also not above the local comparative rent.
There is currently a general limit for rent increases of 20 percent in three years. In areas with a tight housing market, the figure is 15 percent. In the coalition agreement, the traffic light parties had agreed to lower this cap to 11 percent. However, given the current critical situation on the housing market, the SPD parliamentary group does not consider this to be sufficient.
She also calls for a solution for index leases. These rents, which are linked to the inflation rate, have become a problem because the prices – and thus the rents – rose sharply as a result of the Ukraine war. She now proposes linking index rents to the general development of net cold rents instead of to the inflation rate.
The Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann, who is responsible for the topic, has so far opposed calls for restrictions on index rents. “Our problem with rents isn’t that we don’t have enough regulation, but that we don’t have enough living space,” said the FDP politician two weeks ago. If the federal government wants to mobilize private capital for housing construction, it shouldn’t send out the signal “that more regulation is imminent.”