Further burdens prevented?: Bundestag stops increase in CO2 price

The CO2 price would have made fuel and gas even more expensive next year than they already are. Now the Bundestag is preventing the increase with a resolution. However, one association does not believe that the risk of further burdens has been averted.

The CO2 price, which makes heating and refueling with oil and gas more expensive, is expected to remain unchanged next year. The current price corridor of 55 to 65 euros should also apply next year. The Bundestag in Berlin decided this.

Many companies in Germany have to provide proof of certificates if they cause CO2. The corridor sets the price for trading these certificates in national emissions trading. The CO2 taxes are collected from gas suppliers or companies in the mineral oil industry, which then pass them on to consumers.

Without the decision, the German CO2 price next year would have been based on the European CO2 price, which applies, among other things, to energy-intensive industries - so the price would have risen above the current level. “In this way we prevent an additional price jump at the gas station and for heating,” said Daniel Rinkert from the SPD. CSU politician Christian Moser promised: "We will keep prices stable and not increase the burden any further."

Critics see false incentives

Lisa Badum from the Greens, however, accused the black-red coalition of setting false incentives and telling people that they could continue to buy oil and gas heaters and combustion cars. “They are torpedoing the climate goals.” The German Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) also accused the black-red coalition of setting false incentives. The Left also criticized the decision. The AfD called for a return to nuclear power.

The municipal utilities association VKU doubts that CO2 prices will remain stable with the reform. Rather, consumers would have to expect rising prices through the back door, as it will be more expensive if companies have to buy additional certificates - although less expensive than the federal government had proposed in its draft.