Söder: Planned reduction in electricity tax is not enough
According to CSU leader Markus Söder, the reduction in electricity tax planned by the leaders of the traffic light coalition is not enough. It is a first step, "but like everything else in the traffic light coalition, it is late and hesitant. And then something is done, but it's not enough," said the Bavarian Minister President on Monday after a meeting of the CSU executive in Munich.
Söder said that there have been problems with the price of electricity for business and industry for months. "There have been no solutions for months." The CDU/CSU has been in favor of lowering the electricity tax for months. "Large energy-intensive sectors such as the chemical industry say that this is nowhere near enough. This is actually just a fixation on the current development and it prevents even higher increases."
The German government wants to reduce the price of electricity for the manufacturing industry through a tax reform. Plans include a significant reduction in electricity tax for 2024 and 2025 for the manufacturing industry and an expansion of the existing electricity price compensation for companies that are particularly affected by high electricity prices. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) put the relief at up to twelve billion euros next year alone. The price brake should also apply for the years 2026 to 2028, provided counter-financing is possible in the federal budget.
For Söder, the "cardinal error" of the federal government lies in the lack of a concept to reduce the price of electricity by generating its own electricity: "We will continue to have high electricity prices because we have to buy electricity from somewhere else that is not yet available." Renewable energies would still not be sufficient to cover demand "in any form" over the next five years.
The CSU, led by Markus Söder, believes that the planned reduction in electricity tax by the traffic light coalition does not adequately address the high electricity prices in the industry. The large energy-intensive sectors, such as the chemical industry, argue that the proposed reduction is merely a continuation of the current trend and fails to address the issue thoroughly.
Source: www.dpa.com
