The traffic light coalition wants to speed up the implementation of the expert proposals on the gas price brake. “It needs quick support, and that’s why we’ll get it started as soon as possible,” said Deputy Green Party leader Julia Verlinden on Wednesday at a current hour in the Bundestag.
At the same time, the government alliance also announced improvements. SPD faction deputy Matthias Miersch held out the prospect of cushioning hardship among users of wood pellets and oil heating.
The commission set up by the government had proposed that gas customers receive a one-off state payment in December before a price cap for private customers comes into effect in March for a basic quota of 80 percent of normal consumption.
One-off payment meets with resentment
Most of the proposals are met with criticism from the opposition: Deputy CDU chairman Andreas Jung complained that the one-off payment “raises more questions than it answers”. Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch called it “absurd” that the gas price brake should only come into force at the end of the heating season, while the one-off payment in December was an “anti-social watering can”. AfD MP Rainer Kraft spoke of “blind, expensive activism” and “energy policy failure”.
In addition, the traffic light coalition was accused of delaying the problem. The fact that the gas price brake will not take effect this winter is due to the fact that action was taken too late, Jung complained. Bartsch also attacked the federal government: “They argued with each other for months and only casually looked after the people.”
