Germany wants to relieve households in the face of the explosion of the amount of their bills. To do this, Olaf Scholz said that he wanted to use the windfall profits made by certain energy companies thanks to sky-high market prices.
Dans le document présentant un nouveau plan d’aides massif contra l’inflation, le gouvernement allemand qu’il plaidera pour qu’une mesure “de prélèvement partiel des benéfices aléatoires” de ces entreprises soit mise en oeuvre dans le cadre de l’ European Union. However, the German executive says he is ready to act on a national level.
The reform desired by Berlin, however, differs from the taxation of exceptional profits of energy groups, decided by certain governments in Europe, underlined Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
A compulsory contribution
The government discussed this “controversial idea”, “but there are constitutional reservations on this issue”, added the leader of the Liberals who is adamantly opposed to the principle of a tax. He stressed on Sunday that it is not “a source of income that can be planned and that allows to organize a quick relief” of the household bill.
If the word tax is not used, it should be a compulsory contribution imposed on companies in the energy sector aimed at reducing the price of electricity paid by households and companies. This obligatory contribution could contribute “several tens of billions of euros”, indicated the Minister of Finance.
An aid plan of 65,000 million euros
To support households and companies in the face of inflation and rising energy prices, the German government agreed this Sunday on a new aid plan for purchasing power and companies for a total amount of 65,000 million euros.
Germany faces, like all EU countries, soaring electricity prices and fears for its energy supply due to the depletion of Russian gas, on which its industry especially depends.
Despite the prolonged closure of the Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia with northern Germany, the country “will be able to cope with this winter,” Chancellor Scholz assured.
“Russia is no longer a reliable supplier of energy (…) The federal government has been preparing for this eventuality since the beginning of the year,” said the official, stressing that thanks to the diversification of supply sources, the start-up of coal-fired power plants and the filling of gas reserves, the country was in a position to face the coming months.
Source: BFM TV
