It is supposed to be a "heavy package for relief", but the negotiations between the coalition partners in the chancellery are "difficult". Nevertheless: After several hours there is a result. Chancellor Scholz wants to announce what that looks like in the morning.
According to information from the government alliance, the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP under Chancellor Olaf Scholz has agreed on a third relief package worth billions in view of the high energy prices. "It's done," said Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann on Twitter in the morning. "Very good result."
Scholz wants to announce the results of the deliberations at 11 a.m. The Chancellery had already announced that during the night while the negotiations were still ongoing. The consultations at the government headquarters began on Saturday afternoon. A comprehensive package has been announced with targeted relief to compensate for the drastically increased prices in the wake of the Ukraine war.
In addition to Scholz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, other cabinet members and the leaders of the three parliamentary groups and parties took part in the negotiations. At a cabinet meeting in the middle of the week, Scholz had announced a relief package that was “as tailor-made as possible, as efficient as possible, as targeted as possible”. It was agreed not to disclose the status of the negotiations in the Chancellery.
After hours of talks, it was decided late Saturday evening not to appear in front of the press at night. The exchange was continued in all confidentiality until a result was reached, the Reuters news agency learned from negotiating circles. Negotiations were described as "very intense" and "difficult" throughout the afternoon and evening.
A whole bundle of measures is expected with which the coalition wants to react to the sharp rise in energy and living costs. Direct payments for people with low incomes and especially for pensioners and students, tax relief and the successor to the nine-euro ticket in local transport are under discussion.
It would be the third relief package this year. The two previous relief packages included the tank discount that expired at the end of August, the nine-euro ticket and a flat-rate energy price. They had a total volume of a good 30 billion euros.
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner announced a "heavy package for relief" on Wednesday after a two-day cabinet meeting. He saw scope for a single-digit billion amount for this year and for a double-digit billion amount for the coming year.
The SPD and the Greens are also calling for a so-called excess profit tax, with which profits from the crisis could be skimmed off, for example because of the high gas prices at energy companies. It could also be used to fund further relief. Lindner and the FDP are skeptical about the excess profit tax.
