An energy flat rate for pensioners, more housing benefit and a successor to the 9-euro ticket: In a marathon of negotiations, the coalition leaders of the traffic light agree on a series of measures to keep their promise - the relief of "all households".
The heads of the traffic light coalition have agreed on a third relief package with a total volume of 65 billion euros. The envisaged measures "relieve all households - including pensioners, students, technical students and trainees," says the decision paper, which is available to ntv.
"Coping with the crisis is a national task," it says. "The federal, state and local governments jointly bear the burden on citizens and companies." Federal Minister of Finance and FDP leader Christian Lindner said that the relief package should avert damage to Germany. It was a "massive package" that had been negotiated for a good 22 hours.
Among other things, it is planned:
There should also be further relief for companies. The existing aid programs for companies will be "extended until December 31, 2022, the current term of the European Commission's state aid framework," says the paper.
Together with the two relief packages that have already been decided, the total relief amounts to 95 billion euros. The measures "lead to significant additional expenditure in the federal budget," says the paper. This requires "considerable efforts from all three coalition partners and all departments".
However, the draft does not mention a suspension of the debt brake. There it says that the federal government has presented a draft budget that “should manage without using the exemption from the debt brake for the years from 2023 onwards”.
The aim of the new relief is to "cushion the expected high price increases for citizens and companies in the area of energy consumption", according to the decision paper. "This also supports the economy and the labor market because citizens continue to consume and companies continue to invest."
