DThe goal is: climate protection that not only has a price, but also where the state reimburses citizens at least part of the costs. After the federal government recently showed little ambition to start paying out the so-called climate money during this legislative period, the FDP parliamentary group is now picking up speed.
“I think it would be right to pay out the climate money as soon as the mechanism is in place,” says parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr: “We should now set the right priorities in budget policy.” Broad relief for society is more important than small-scale funding programs. “We should therefore examine together which subsidies we can forego in favor of climate money.”
The group has already put its suggestions on the table. Savings are to be made primarily in the billions in subsidies for the establishment of chip factories, but also in the subsidies for the decarbonization of the industry and programs for more energy efficiency. In total, the Liberals come to 7.5 billion euros, which should be used to pay every citizen almost 100 euros in 2025. “This amount is likely to increase significantly in the following years,” says the office of parliamentary group deputy Lukas Köhler, who compiled the list.
Habeck doesn’t want the climate money yet
But has the group also taken into account the finance minister? Christian Lindner doesn't sound quite as convinced yet. “The Federal Ministry of Finance will complete the technical requirements for climate money as planned,” the FDP politician told the FAZ. This should be the case at the end of 2024. And then? “With a liberal finance minister, relief for citizens will never fail, but realistically an agreement in the coalition is a long way off,” Lindner continues.
He rules out financing proposals that would impose new burdens on the working population. According to him, many subsidies and funding programs would have to be foregone in order for a payment to be made. Something that the traffic light coalition is known to have difficulty with, as the reaction to the farmers' protests has shown.
The CO has existed in Germany since the beginning of 20212-Price. Anyone who fills their car with diesel or petrol and heats it with gas or oil has to pay it. It is currently 45 euros per tonne of CO2. For a gas heater with 20,000 kilowatt hours of consumption per year, that's 180 euros per year, according to the comparison portal Check24. The industry is part of the European emissions trading system, in which pollution certificates are traded and CO2-Price is already significantly higher. The transport and building sectors are to be transferred to this system in 2027.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) indicated in the government survey in the Bundestag on Wednesday that he only believes that climate money should be paid out if the price rises significantly. At the moment we are still on the price path of the grand coalition. Habeck had previously argued that the abolition of the EEG surcharge on electricity prices was a kind of climate money. The Economics Minister is in trouble: on the one hand, the Greens used climate money during the election campaign, and on the other hand, he does not want to save any more in the climate and transformation fund than is already necessary according to the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling.
The envious look at Austria
But Habeck is also receiving pressure from his group. “The climate money has to come during this electoral period,” says deputy group leader Julia Verlinden (Greens). “It is an important justice project of the traffic light, which at the same time cushions burdens and rewards climate-friendly behavior.” Unlike the FDP, however, it does not want to save on other “core investments in the future of the economy”.
In the direction of the FDP, Verlinden says: “If it wants to make climate money possible for everyone from 2025, then it must be prepared to reform climate-damaging subsidies.” The Greens say that five billion euros could be generated through cuts in the so-called company car privilege alone: “ For climate money of 100 euros per capita, around 8 billion euros plus administrative costs would be necessary,” calculates Verlinden.
The SPD parliamentary group is also critical of the FDP's proposals for cuts. Nobody can buy a new heater or an electric car for 100 euros a year. “I warn against canceling funding at the expense of climate money. That would be extremely anti-social,” warns Katja Mast, parliamentary director. Her suggestion: “If the budget situation is tight, a socially staggered approach would be advisable.”
Low-income households in particular are feeling the effects of rising energy prices, she argues. “We must not allow them to cope with the annual increase in CO2-Leave pricing alone.” Other funding programs could be supplemented with “socially fair” climate money, says Mast: “If I have my way, we can start from 2025.” Last year, the Social Democrats proposed that climate money only be paid up to a monthly amount Gross income of 4000 euros to be paid.
Austria has come a long way: since 2022, every citizen there has received the “climate bonus”. Depending on where you live, between 110 euros and 220 euros automatically end up in your account once a year if your main residence is in the Alpine republic. While Germany has been working on how the state can transfer money directly to citizens since the problems with paying out Corona aid, the preparatory work in the neighboring country only took six months. According to Austria, your financial administration is already much more digital.
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