Chancellor Scholz assures that the German economy “will be able to face this winter” despite Russian gas cuts
The German government has agreed on a plan of €65 billion to help households and businesses cope with the sharp rise in energy prices, according to a project consulted this Sunday by AFP. “A timely and proportional aid to households and companies is necessary in the face of the rapid increase in energy prices,” indicates the document prepared after weeks of negotiations between the three parties of the Social Democratic chancellor’s coalition Olaf Scholz. Inflation continued to rise in Germany, reaching 7.9% year-on-year in August, due to the war-induced increase in energy prices in Ukraine.
The parties of the tripartite government coalition in Germany agreed after hours of negotiations on a new aid package, the third, so that citizens can face the sharp increase in energy prices and the cost of living. The first two packages, with a total volume of some 30,000 million euros, included, among other aid for citizens, a public transport subsidy with tickets of 9 euros per month to travel throughout Germany and a discount on fuel, limited to three months and which expired at the end of August.
Among the measures applied, there are already the abolition of the surcharge in the price of electricity to finance renewable energy and a single bonus of 100 euros per child and energy of up to 300 euros. For this third package, the party leaders discussed specific aid for people with low incomes, especially for pensioners and students, tax cuts and a possible successor to the 9 euro note for the local transport.
The negotiations that began last Thursday around noon and in which, in addition to Scholz and Lindner, the Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy, the green Robert Habeck, other ministers, and the leaders of the three parliamentary groups and of the parties, participated, had preceded by weeks of debates. “It’s done. Very good result,” announced the Minister of Justice, the liberal Marco Buschmann, on Twitter.
Germany “will be able to face this winter”
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Chancellor Scholz stated at a press conference that Germany has sufficient energy supplies and reserves to face the coming winter, after Russia sine die cut off its gas shipments through the Nord Stream I gas pipeline.
The Executive has made “timely decisions” to avoid a crisis this winter, such as filling gas tanks or diversifying suppliers, Scholz said at a press conference. “We will face this winter,” said the German chancellor.