Energy prices are rising, and Germans are demanding countermeasures from the government.
The German authorities have adopted a bailout package that includes, among other things, targeted assistance for pensioners and students, tax cuts, and the like. And the government also agreed to a single ticket for local transport in Germany.
The current decision will be quite valuable for the federal government.
It should be noted that this is not the first crisis move by the government.
Germany has already begun to introduce measures to save energy consumption. So, from September 1 to the end of February 2023, there will be a number of rules that should reduce gas consumption in Germany by 2-2.5%.
Including the reduction of the maximum allowed temperatures in public buildings. The new rule does not apply to health care facilities, nursing facilities and other social institutions.
And as for gas, in addition to “incentives for saving,” “penalties for consumption” have also been introduced.
In the course of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Germany is gradually reducing its gas supplies from Russia and looking for gas substitutes from the aggressor state. But Gazprom itself has repeatedly artificially reduced its gas supplies to Germany in recent months.
Consequently, Uniper, the country’s largest gas supplier, has found itself in an existential-threatening situation and has turned to the government for help. It was these losses, according to the government, that led to the introduction of an additional fee for gas. If such support had not been introduced, companies important for the functioning of the gas market and security of supply could have gone bankrupt.
The economy ministry feared a “Lehman Brothers scenario,” that is, a chain reaction of bankruptcies with enormous consequences for the German economy would ensue if Uniper collapsed.
For the average family, the additional gas charge would mean about 500 euros of extra costs per month.
But the new bailout package was not only passed because of higher prices and inflation: political and public pressure has also grown considerably. Several parties and trade unions have called for protests if sufficient measures are not taken to help the population, which has already felt the effects of the energy crisis.
The German government adopted a new aid package on September 3.