STERN survey - Three quarters of Germans against higher energy prices
On Monday, farmers demonstrated in Berlin against the abolition of subsidies with tractor convoys. According to the original plans of the traffic light coalition, farmers are to pay the full tax rate on agricultural diesel in future and will no longer be exempt from motor vehicle tax. However, opposition to the federal government's austerity package goes much further.
Three out of four Germans are generally opposed to the government's plans to make energy more expensive. This was the result of a Forsa survey commissioned by stern magazine. To solve the budget crisis, the traffic light coalition had decided, among other things, to increase the C02 price more sharply at the turn of the year. As a result, prices for heating oil, gas, petrol, diesel and electricity are expected to rise. 22% of Germans consider higher energy costs to be justifiable. 75 percent say that the German government should have made up the billions missing through savings that would not place such a heavy burden on citizens. Three percent have no opinion on the matter. Criticism is particularly strong among Germans whose household earns less than 2500 euros net per month. 82 percent of them reject the traffic light plans. Unsurprisingly, households with lower incomes have to spend a larger proportion of their income on energy.
The voters of the governing parties SPD and FDP are also against making energy more expensive: 61% of SPD voters reject the measures, 35% find them justifiable: similarly with the FDP: 62% are against the plans, only 33% in favor. The rejection is even greater among CDU/CSU (82%) and AfD (95%) supporters. Only 59% of Green voters are in favor of making energy more expensive, while only 37% are in favor of a small number of cost-cutting measures.
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute forsa for RTL Group Germany on December 14 and 15, 2023. Data basis: 1096 respondents. Statistical margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points.
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
Source: www.stern.de
