Changes in Germany June 2022: Here are the changes you should look forward to that will affect everyday life for people in Germany in June 2022:
1. 9-Euro ticket
The 9 euro public transport ticket kicked off in June 1st 2022, offering passengers unlimited use of public transport nationwide for this 9 euro sum per month.
One of the main ideas around the 9 euro ticket was to minimise usage of private means of transport and have more people using the train and bus. Here’s where to buy it and how long its valid for below HERE:
READ ALSO: Germany: Thousands of 9 euro tickets printed wrong. Here’s what victims must do
Germany 9-euro ticket: Where to buy it, how long is it valid and how it works
2. Reduction of Fuel tax
From the 1st of June to the end of August, fuelling ones vehicle will be more cost effective with a reduction of the energy tax on fuels to the minimum permitted in the EU.
The tax rate for petrol is at fall by almost 30 cents and for diesel by 14 cents. Also no VAT will be charged on the portion of the energy tax that will be eliminated.
3. Heating cost allowance
Come June, a new law on heating cost subsidy will come into effect. the federal government wants to relieve low-income households f the added financial burden by the sharp incline in heating cots.
Accordng to the Africancourier, more than 2.1 million people will receive a one-time subsidy payment for their heating costs. Those to benefit from the subsidy are students receiving Bafög who no longer live with their parents, recipients of housing allowance, recipients of vocational training allowance and people who receive Aufstiegs-Bafög.
No application is needed to receive the grant – it is transferred directly to the beneficiary’s account.
4. Aldi and Lidl increase minimum wage
The minimum wage at Aldi will be raised from 12.50 euros to at least 14 euros and hour. This applies to both Ali Süd and Aldi Nord.
Aldi’s competitor Lidl has also announced a rise in the minium wage to 14 euros from June 2022 too.
5. Summer time-table
The summer time-table for Deutsche Bahn among other travel companies will come into effect in 12 June, but with only minor changes. Deutsche Bahn will once again be offering a direct connection between Berlin and the North Sea island of Sylt.
In addition, Chemnitz will be connected to the long-distance network after a decade and a half and will get connections to Berlin and on to the Baltic Sea without changing trains.
6. Free transport for Ukrainian refugees comes to an end
Refugees from Ukraine have been able to use public transport in cities in Germany without a ticket since the outbreak of the war. This regulation has already expired (31st May 2022).
Refugees will now require a ticket when travelling on public transport from the 1st of June.
An affordable method of transport would be the 9-euro ticket which entitles holders to travel using public transport (regular buses, trams, underground trains, suburban trains, ferries and regional trains in 2nd class) for one month for only nine euros. The 9-Euro Ticket is offered during the months of June, July and August.
7. Eased restrictions on travel
From June 1, 2022, travellers returning to Germany and foreign tourists will no longer need to prove that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested for Covid. The regulation for entering Germany from abroad required people over the age of 12 to have a Covid vaccination test or certificate.
These regulations expired on May 31 this year.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that the government was suspending the 3G entry rule until the end of August.
READ MORE: Travel to Germany: Easing entry restrictions from June 1, 2022
8. Ukrainian refugees receive Hartz IV
Refugees coming to Germany from Ukraine are now entitled to regular social benefits such as Germany’s employment II benefit – know as Hartz IV – from June onwards.
Before they received lower welfare benefits under the Asylum Seeker Act.
The change means that refugees can now benefit from integration offers for the labour market, such as counselling and support for job applications.
9. Public holidays
- 6 June: Pfingstmontag (Whit Monday) – is a national public holiday in Germany so many employees will get the day off and shops will be closed.
- 16 June: Fronleichnam (Corpus Christi) – only for inhabitants of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland
10. No more sick for leave by phone
It will no longer be possible to receive a sick note from the doctor for a mild upper respiratory tract illness such as a common cold, by calling the doctor.
Patients now have to go to the doctors’s practice against or use video consultation.
With Germany currently having low cases of the corona virus infections in people, it has made it possible to strike this off. Should infections rates rise again, then the special regulation will again be enforced.
11. Expiry of vaccination certificates
Some digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates will expire as from 14th June 2022. This should not cause alarm as it is not because of any medical complication but the fact that the vaccination certificates were meant to expire after a year.
Users of the Corona warning app or CoV passport app will receive a notification 28 days in advance to alert them of this new change.
Corresponding updates for this do not yet exist. However, pharmacies also reissue a vaccination certificate.
12. Transcribing foreign driving licence eased
It will be easier for people with a driving licence that was not issued in the EU or the European Economic Area to apply for a new one in Germany.
With an amendment to the Driving Licence Ordinance, people from Albania, Great Britain, Gibraltar, Kosovo and Moldova will be able to apply for a driving licence more easily from 1 June.
READ ALSO: Driving in Germany: Rules for getting around with a foreign driver’s license