“Under no circumstances capable of approval”: Country criticism of the relief package is not abating

“Under no circumstances capable of approval”
Country criticism of the relief package is not abating

The traffic light coalition has been negotiating a third relief package for a long time. But the result is met with rejection by the federal states. The main issue here is the costs that are imposed on them. There is talk of “irresponsible” dealings with the federal states.

In the federal states there is persistent resistance to the third relief package of the traffic light coalition. Above all, a lack of coordination between the federal government and the federal states in the financing of the individual relief measures is criticized. “In its current form, the relief package cannot be approved,” said Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder of the “Welt am Sonntag”. Baden-Württemberg had previously threatened to say no to parts of the bundle of measures in the Bundesrat.

At the beginning of September, the traffic light coalition presented a third package of measures to compensate for the rapidly rising prices, the extent of which the government put at around 65 billion euros. The measures include, for example, one-off payments for pensioners and students and a price cap for basic energy requirements. The coalition is also aiming for a successor to the nationwide 9-euro ticket at a price of 49 to 69 euros a month – if the federal states help finance it.

The last point is particularly controversial. “It cannot be that Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing only participates in a price signal, and then it’s done for him with public transport. Local transport not only has to be cheap, it also has to be available in many areas for the time being,” said the Minister President of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger from the SPD, the newspaper.

Basically, the dispute revolves around the distribution of the costs of the relief measures between the federal and state governments. Bremen’s Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte from the SPD told the “Welt am Sonntag”: “If the division proposed by the federal government is retained, the three relief packages to date alone will cost Bremen almost 300 million euros. The federal government must make significant improvements here.” Söder said: “Centralistic and lonely decisions are made that can no longer be financed by the federal states as part of the debt brake – while the federal government deals with gigantic sums in shadow budgets”. The federal states have never been treated as badly by a federal government as they are today.

“Merkel was always approachable”

Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff called the federal government’s dealings with the states “irresponsible”. Right now you need a permanently institutionalized voting procedure between the federal and state governments, “similar to what Chancellor Merkel practiced in the Corona crisis. She was always approachable. This preliminary vote is not taking place today,” said the CDU politician. A special conference of the state leaders with Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the SPD is planned for September 28, at which the points of contention are to be cleared up.

Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil called for more speed with the measures. “We have a common electricity market and that’s why I think it’s right if we develop a common, European solution. But we don’t have any amount of time. I’m not only thinking of private households, but also of the many companies,” said the SPD -Politician ntv.de. While there is a real shortage of gas, there is a regulatory problem with electricity. “That’s why politicians have a special responsibility here. If we don’t reach agreement quickly in Europe, Germany will have to go ahead alone.”

In addition, Weil calls for hardship funds for citizens and small and medium-sized businesses. “The basic idea is: We always have cases where the normal social security systems do not work for various reasons.” Life is very colorful and diverse. “For such cases we need an emergency system that cannot be a regular system. It is “above all that the energy crisis does not turn into a social and economic crisis and then into a political one”.

Criticism of the relief package also comes from the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). Its boss Yasmin Fahimi called for a different focus. “The traffic light coalition would be better advised to agree on a few, but all the more extensive measures,” she told the “Welt am Sonntag”. The government should also focus more on what private households and companies need in the medium term in order to get through the crisis over a longer period of time. Fahimi called for a gas price cap and, in the short term, an additional energy price flat rate of 500 euros per person, plus 100 euros for each child. Additional help is needed for recipients of social benefits, and more protection for tenants in the event of payment defaults.

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