Criticism of the new “tank discount”: Between election campaign and market control

"Pretty nonsense", "watering can principle", "economically counterproductive" - ​​leading economists and the opposition in the Bundestag agree: the "tank discount" is wrong. “For me, it was above all an expression of the desperation of politicians,” says economist Monika Schnitzer. And even Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) does not see the fuel discount “as a regulatory masterpiece.”

Why did he still win the political ideas competition on the question of how drivers and the economy can be relieved of the consequences of sharply rising fuel prices?

Did Schwesig's influence play a role?

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is emblematic of the dissatisfaction - even in the federal government. In the ARD summer interview, he emphasized that the high oil price “in Germany cannot be subsidized away.”

You can - at least a little. Almost exactly a month later, the “tank discount” is back, brought through the Bundestag and Bundesrat in an expedited procedure last week. The fact that SPD Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) pushed for this during the state election campaign certainly played a role.

Background: It should no longer be made so easy for others to “hit” on the Union and the SPD. It was not for nothing that the AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund demonstratively brought his last fuel bill with him before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. Message: Look where the CDU and SPD have led us.

Almost 80 percent passed on to consumers

The coalition once again fell into a trap of its own making - by announcing something that it was later unable to fully implement. After fuel prices rose sharply due to the Iran war, the government factions formed a task force. She emphasized that people should not be left alone with the rising costs of petrol and diesel.

An apparently largely ineffective 12 o'clock rule for gas stations was introduced, the first "fuel discount" came and went with the conclusion that the oil companies had passed on almost 80 percent to consumers. Prices continued to rise.

“Tank discount” now, further measures soon

The coalition then agreed on a compromise, two days before the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin: “tank discount” now and further measures soon. “We will now intervene in the market,” announced Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD).

Under pressure from his SPD in particular, there should be a “price cap” for fuel, following the example of Belgium. It limits prices, dynamically based on the costs of crude oil or distribution. The Union and the SPD have agreed that this cap should come by January 1st at the latest. How exactly is still unclear - at least the legal requirements for this should be created.

The CDU is skeptical about the fuel price cap

One thing is clear: Federal Economics Minister Reiche is actually against it. Before the agreement, she had called a “fuel price cap” “the wrong way.” "Such a cap weakens our medium-sized refining industry." The CDU thinks little of market intervention. But now Reiche has to worry about the specific design of the “price cap”.

Sebastian Roloff, economic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, tells the ARD capital studio: "I would now like to remind the Union in a friendly, collegial manner that this has really been firmly agreed for the SPD and must come at the beginning of January. There is no wobbling."

Roloff says he is “a little nervous” that the compromise envisages developing the “price cap” in discussions with the oil companies. They tend to have no interest in it, “because they want to make as high a profit as possible, which is to a certain extent normal.”

An EU-wide regulation against prices?

One thing is certain: the problem of high fuel prices will not be solved any time soon. Hopes that the Strait of Hormuz, for example, would be navigable again have not been fulfilled. This is also why the Union's energy policy spokesman in the Bundestag, Andreas Lenz (CSU), demands: "In the competition of ideas, we have to pay close attention to what other countries, especially other EU countries, are doing. And the best thing would be uniform EU relief. Regulations that also put a stop to fuel tourism if possible."

Germany tends to make very complicated regulations, says Lenz. He finds the example of Italy charming: From January there will be no vehicle tax for small and medium-sized cars.

An EU-wide regulation could, for example, be an excess profits tax, which the SPD has been calling for for a long time and which would take some of the money from the oil companies that they earn more from the price rally. The next stop is the EU finance ministers meeting in mid-October, the outcome is uncertain.

The coalition will therefore retain the discussion. And it won't be any easier because the price of the DeutschlandTicket is set to rise - it will be determined on a regular basis using an index; This was particularly inappropriate for the coalition this week. Why are the drivers of combustion engines being relieved and not the people who commute by bus and train every day? The ticket is currently being subsidized by the federal and state governments with 1.5 billion euros each - but there are no plans to provide relief beyond that.

The political ideas competition has been expanded to include another component - and is far from over.