The Union and the SPD are on a collision course in the struggle to reduce electricity taxes. After the leaders of the CDU/CSU and SPD were unable to reach an agreement on Wednesday, Union faction deputy Günter Krings continued to insist on the reduction. "It's not easy, but the next opportunity to do so is the coalition committee next week," the CDU politician told the Rheinische Post. “We must now do everything we can to ensure that the electricity tax is abolished this year.”
The measure is agreed in the coalition agreement and was only recently announced again by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU).
SPD: “Unable to finance”
In contrast, SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch emphasized that he still sees no scope for counter-financing. “The electricity tax cut has not yet been financed, no matter how much we would like relief, which would amount to eight to nine euros a month for an average family,” Miersch told the Funke media group. That would lead to tax losses of five billion euros next year, and there would also be a major problem with financing for 2028. “I don’t see us resolving this during the budget discussions by the end of the week.”
The leaders of the black-red coalition agreed to compromises on many controversial issues on Wednesday. The sugar tax on heavily sweetened drinks should not come until January 1, 2028 instead of July 1, 2027 as previously planned.
However, a reduction in electricity tax for all companies and private households, which is primarily demanded by the Union, remains unresolved because the counter-financing is unclear. The reduction in electricity tax could theoretically also be decided after the adjustment meeting that begins today.
So “pretty much everyone” expressed their opinion
The compromises on the budget are also causing disputes within the party within the Union. In the special session “there was a real bang,” said CDU financial politician Mathias Middelberg on Deutschlandfunk. "You can certainly say that openly. But that's not a bad thing in a democratic party, in a democratic function. Pretty much everyone expressed their opinion yesterday."
Among other things, it was about the planned reduction in electricity tax and the issue of income tax and especially the so-called cold progression. The Union's debate lasted significantly longer than that of the SPD.
Middelberg referred - as did parliamentary group deputy Krings - to the coalition committee. "And even then there are still ways to organize counter-financing. However, I will say quite honestly that this is extremely ambitious. It will be difficult," he said, referring to the electricity tax.
Criticism from Hesse
Sharp criticism also came from CDU-led Hesse. Prime Minister Boris Rhein reminded the Union and the SPD that the reduction in electricity tax was firmly agreed in the coalition agreement. This must be implemented now. “The fight against the price crisis should be at the heart of our politics,” he said. What is needed is a trust offensive for centrist politics with the simple rule: "Don't promise too much, but keep everything."
The CDU and AfD want to cut spending
CDU budget politician Middelberg announced that, given low economic growth, spending would have to be cut even more in the coming years. He mentioned federal funding programs and financial aid as well as social spending. "There's no other way."
The AfD financial politician Kay Gottschalk took the same line. In the joint morning magazine from ARD and ZDF, he mentioned the areas of citizens' money and spending for the EU, but in the short term also for the Bundeswehr. “Of course we have to be able to defend ourselves as the Bundeswehr,” said Gottschalk. However, Germany's current enormous demand in the defense sector would have negative consequences: "Then prices rise and you open yourself up to blackmail."
The Greens accuse Merz of failing in the electricity tax
There is further criticism from the opposition: The Greens made serious accusations, especially against Chancellor and CDU leader Merz. “A Federal Chancellor who promised the people just four weeks ago: 'I'll lower the electricity tax for you' - and he can't keep that now, has failed," said parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge in the RTL/ntv early start. “And apparently no one in the coalition takes what the Chancellor says seriously anymore. That is the devastating news from last night,” said Dröge, referring to the budget negotiations.
Party leader Felix Banaszak told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger that the federal government apparently has neither a plan nor the strength to help the economy get back on its feet and provide people with noticeable relief. "With the best will in the world, I cannot explain otherwise why it is failing again because of the electricity tax. And that, even though the Chancellor promised a reduction just four weeks ago." The coalition is shattered and a common course is not evident.
Schwerdtner calls Merz a “liar”
Left leader Ines Schwerdtner also had sharp words for the postponed reduction in electricity taxes: "But when it comes to electricity, Friedrich Merz is once again proving to be a liar and a bad chancellor," she told the AFP news agency. He “avoided the question of who should pay for it”.
Schwerdtner, in turn, welcomed the compromises as a success of his own efforts. “The protests of the last few months are having an impact,” she said. “The cuts in housing benefit have been suspended, the immediate supplement for children from needy families remains, the sugar tax has been postponed.” The Left leader added: "The federal government realizes that it finally has to make life affordable."
