Energy supply | New fuel discount causes strong criticism

Fuel prices have reached new highs. Photo: dpa/Pia Bayer Berlin. Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised quick action in view of rising gasoline prices. The federal government finally agreed to reintroduce the fuel discount of 17 cents by the end of the year. The Greens in the Bundestag have criticized the agreement between the federal and state governments as “madness”. »The fuel discount is back. What madness,” said parliamentary group deputy Andreas Audretsch to the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND). "The money must end up in the people's wallets, not in the pockets of the oil companies," he added.

With the fuel discount in the summer, the companies had already put some of the money into their own pockets, explained Audretsch. “To repeat that now is absurd,” said the Green politician. Calculations by the Ifo Institute assume that the discount was largely passed on for premium gasoline, but this was different for diesel, where 3 to 4 cents were withheld from the discount.

Instead of a gas cap, Audretsch advocated for “energy money” that should be paid out directly, as well as a reduction in electricity taxes. In addition, the federal government should skim off the corporations' excess profits. "The fact that there is no further excess profits tax is a kowtow to the powerful oil companies," Audretsch told the RND newspapers.

The federal government had previously announced an agreement on a fuel discount of 17 cents by the end of the year. The fuel discount that was already used in May and June will now apply from October to the end of the year, as the federal government announced on Friday evening after days of negotiations. To this end, the federal government is reducing “the energy tax on gasoline and diesel by 14 cents per liter by the end of 2026. Including sales tax, the tax relief for fuel adds up to 17 cents per liter. This time the states are also on board with the financing. They share the costs of a total of 2.5 billion euros with the federal government - i.e. 1.25 billion euros each.

According to the government, a fuel price cap based on the example of Luxembourg and Belgium will be introduced by January 1st at the latest. Discussions should be held with the oil industry for this purpose.

The board member of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv), Ramona Pop, criticized the federal government's planned measures as not being targeted enough. The projects are “expensive, short-sighted and not very targeted,” Pop told the “Rheinische Post”. "Instead, relief measures are now needed that primarily reach households with small and medium incomes and at the same time take the beginning of the heating season into account," demanded Germany's top consumer advocate.

The Federal Government wants to pursue the possibility of a direct payment to compensate citizens for high energy prices. Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) proposed this for households with low incomes. But the plans are not yet concrete.

Pop also explained that a short-term reaction at the pump is no substitute for a well-thought-out relief concept for rising energy costs. “The necessary foresight also includes consistently reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” she told the “Rheinische Post”. “Because we have to prevent every global political crisis from having a costly impact directly at the gas pump or in the boiler room,” said the vzbv board member.

The Social Association of Germany (SoVD), however, assesses the federal government's decisions to reduce fuel costs as mixed. "It's good that the federal government is acting now, because people need quick relief," said SoVD board chairwoman Michaela Engelmeier to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “However, we don’t think watering can solutions like the fuel discount are the right solution,” she added. This costs the state and taxpayers millions or even billions, but also relieves those who do not need support. “That’s a lack of solidarity.”

Engelmeier, on the other hand, welcomed the fuel price cap as a “sensible measure” to protect citizens from further price jumps. “However, it is disappointing and absolutely incomprehensible that crisis-related excess profits are not skimmed off more consistently.”

The association chairwoman also called on the coalition to already think about the next steps: "When it comes to relief, the federal government must not only refer to the petrol pumps, but must also focus on high heating and electricity costs, especially now with a view to autumn and winter." Agencies/nd

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