Aid for the population in Germany: Germany’s Federal government is helping citizens cope with high energy costs. The coalition decided to give 300 euros to all employees and also added cheap public transport tickets.
Aid for the population in Germany
The federal government aims to ease the burden on citizens due to the high cost of energy being experienced currently. After hours of negotiations, coalition members agreed on a package. FOCUS Online presents the resolution briefly.
The leaders of the three coalition parties agreed on “comprehensive and decisive measures to ease the burden on citizens and strengthen energy independence”. These are the decisions:
Due to the increase in prices this year, residents of Germany will be granted a one-off payment of a single lump sum of 300 euros through income tax. All employees in Germany should receive the lump sum.
The coalition also agreed to reduce the fuel energy tax for three months.
According to the coalition, welfare recipients should receive another one-off payment due to high energy prices. In addition to the 100 euros that have already been decided, another 100 euros per person will be paid.
9 euro ticket per month for local transport
The coalition wants to introduce a 9-euro-a-month ticket for local public transport for 90 days. States will receive adequate funding for this.
100 euro bonus for each child
Families should receive a one-time bonus of 100 euros per child. The money should be allocated together with child allowance.
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Direct payments through the tax code
In order to allow a simple and non-bureaucratic way of direct payments to citizens in the future, the federal government will develop a method of paying for ‘climate money through the tax code before the end of this year.
The coalition also agreed on measures to increase energy efficiency. This should also help reduce the dependence on Russia for gas, oil and coal due to Russia waging war against Ukraine.
Renewable energy
From 2024 onward, every newly installed heating system should run on 65% renewable energy – the coalition agreement previously said they aimed for the 1st of January 2025 as their deadline.
The framework will also be created for property owners to be able to replace their heating systems which are more than 20 years old. In addition, there could be major transformations in terms of using a heat pump in many homes.
Green leader Ricarda Lang spoke about the phasing out of gas heating.
“We must protect people”
FDP leader Christian Lindner sees the agreement reached by coalition leaders as proof of the government’s ability to act. “The coalition is convinced that there is need to protect the people and the economy in the short term and for a limited time, given these huge price increases,” he said.
In February, before the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the coalition had agreed on an initial aid package. Among other things, it provided for the elimination of the EEG tax on the electricity bill in July. This was previously planned for the beginning of 2023. The package also involved an increase in the commuter allowance for long-distance commuters.