Finance Minister Lindner (FDP), Chancellor Scholz (SPD) and Economics Minister Habeck (Greens) on Wednesday in Meseberg.
Image: Reuters
Energy money for everyone cannot be paid out in the short term, says the finance minister. I beg your pardon? Scientists have a few suggestions.
Dhe coalition partners sounded quite optimistic when they discussed energy price relief for the first time in the spring. The SPD, Greens and FDP wrote in their decision paper that “if possible this year” the federal government will develop a way for direct payments to the citizens when they met on March 23 of this year for a meeting of the coalition committee. That was – and is – a prerequisite for such a one-off payment to actually reach everyone and not just the employees, who will now receive a flat-rate transfer of 300 euros in September.
That was almost half a year ago now. But the realization of the plan has not come any closer in the meantime, on the contrary, it has been postponed even further into the future. “To put all this data together,” explained Finance Minister Christian Lindner this week after the cabinet meeting in Meseberg, Brandenburg, “that takes just 18 months”. It didn’t sound as if the department head regretted that, on the contrary, he seemed amazed at the naivety of an audience that apparently expected real miracles from him.