The 16 federal states are unanimously calling on the federal government to introduce cheap industrial electricity prices as quickly as possible. There were no party-political differences at the meeting of economics ministers, reported the Hamburg department head Melanie Leonhard after the conference in Hohenkammer, Upper Bavaria. “The transformation electricity price must be introduced promptly and should be easily accessible and implementable without a great deal of bureaucracy,” says the provisional version of the decision.
The appeal is primarily aimed at Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his FDP, who reject subsidies for companies’ electricity bills. In order not to come into conflict with EU regulations on state aid, the state ministers decided that the industrial electricity price should only be intended for industrial companies and not for trade – although many ministers supported this. “It is with a heavy heart that we have set a priority here,” said SPD politician Leonhard.
According to European law, the industrial electricity price would be defined as a “special compensation mechanism”. The EU has already accepted one of these, said Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters). “We won’t put the baker and butcher on this list, because otherwise the EU will say I don’t accept anything at all.” According to Aiwanger, the ministers want to find other ways of helping small businesses.
“The agreement must be reached at the level of the federal government,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) about the discussions with the FDP. “We’re not there yet. But the budget deliberations and the parliamentary process are only just beginning.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also expressed skepticism about a subsidized industrial electricity price in May.
The leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Christian Dürr, told the dpa that all companies were suffering from the high energy costs. “The industrial electricity price would distort competition in favor of the industry. I think that’s wrong. For small businesses, private households and medium-sized companies, the electricity price would not drop by a single cent – they would have to finance the whole thing.”
Energy costs should fall permanently for everyone. This is only possible through diversification and a range of technologies. “I would like to see smart proposals from the countries instead of demands for more and more subsidies.”
Minister against cuts in economic development
The 16 state ministers also presented themselves across party lines against Lindner in protest against planned cuts in subsidies for aerospace and regional economic development. In the case of the latter, according to state information, Lindner wants to halve the federal grants for improving the regional economic structure – GRW funds for short – to 300 million euros.
“We have asked the federal government not to cut the GRW funds,” said Schleswig-Holstein’s Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen. The federal and state governments pay half of the funding proportionately. One euro from the federal government and one euro from the state each entail eight euros in private investment, said the CDU politician. A cut would send the wrong signal.
Habeck agrees. “We are in a period of economic weakness.” The GRW funds went specifically to structurally weak regions. “I think it’s wrong to shave this in this situation, and so does the conference of economics ministers.”
