After the nationalization of the gas company Uniper, the left is demanding price reductions for consumers. “If the citizens save these companies with their tax billions, the pricing must be reversed in their favor,” says parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch. An effective price cap is needed, similar to that in other European countries.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert “Habeck is now called upon to ensure that prices fall in order to protect citizens and companies from financial ruin,” said Bartsch.
Habeck had previously announced that the federal government would take over around 98.5 percent of Uniper. Uniper is in trouble because Russia is no longer pumping gas to Germany. The company has to buy the missing gas from Russia on the gas market at a high price. The gas wholesaler is a supplier for more than 100 municipal utilities and large companies and thus plays a central role in Germany’s natural gas supply.
FDP supports nationalization “for the moment”
According to its deputy chairman, Lukas Köhler, the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag supports the planned nationalization of Uniper “for the moment”. It is a bitter pill, especially for liberals, but one that has to be swallowed in the current crisis situation, according to Köhler. “Because ensuring a secure gas supply as far as possible is currently one of the most important tasks of the federal government.”
It must be clear that this should not become a permanent situation, Köhler continued. “As with all other crisis-related investments, the state must withdraw from the company as quickly as possible,” he emphasized. As soon as the situation allows, Uniper must be privatized. “Under no circumstances should the state become a key player in the energy market in the long term.”
CSU: nationalization “long overdue”
For the CSU, the Uniper nationalization comes too late. The nationalization is “long overdue” and could have saved a lot of uncertainty in the market if this decision had been made in July, criticized CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt. The federal government must now also create transparency as to what costs the German state would face overall – for example through deficits that continue to accrue at the company every day.
Dobrindt also called again: “The gas levy must be stopped urgently.” It is “completely disrespectful” that consumers are already being sent payment notifications and that parts of the federal government are obviously of the opinion that the levy is not sustainable.
Energy economist speaks of “fossil bad bank”
The energy economist Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) describes the planned nationalization of Uniper as a “necessary evil”. “Uniper is systemically important and must be protected,” explained Kemfert in Berlin.
However, it was already clear years ago that “fossil business models” would have no future in the long term. “Now they have to be caught in a fossil bad bank, so to speak – with taxpayers’ money, which we then lack elsewhere.”
