Green Party Leader Felix Banaszak has accused the governing coalition of breaking its word. Speaking to the Funke Media Group, Banaszak stated that both CDU leader Friedrich Merz and SPD leader Lars Klingbeil had promised in the coalition agreement to reduce the electricity tax for all citizens. However, he argued that instead of providing relief for private households, families and small businesses, the CDU and SPD were prioritizing expensive tax benefits for their specific constituencies.
The Green politician also criticized the government’s approach to pension reform, describing it as a disappointing and costly compromise. Banaszak asserted that this action by the coalition was placing political stability above the interests of the people and the country’s future.
He expressed disappointment with the outcomes of the coalition committee meeting, a sentiment he said was not surprising given recent instances of broken promises from Merz and Klingbeil. Banaszak characterized the committee as a test of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s credibility, which the coalition had failed.
The head of the economic advisors also sharply criticized the results of the coalition summit. The Munich economist noted that it was not unexpected but nonetheless regrettable that the coalition partners could not agree on a reduction in the electricity tax for all. While acknowledging the positive aspect of linking such a measure to available financial resources, she questioned the government’s priorities, suggesting that other planned measures, such as increasing the mothers’ allowance and reducing the VAT for the gastronomy sector, were “equally expensive but much less justifiable in times of tight budgets.
Hendrik Wüst, the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU), placed responsibility for the failure to lower consumer electricity prices on Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD). Wüst told the POLITICO Pro newsletter that it was primarily the Finance Minister’s responsibility to make this possible and that he had “a lot of possibilities” to do so, urging him to “recalculate and propose” solutions.
The coalition committee meeting on Wednesday evening concluded without a resolution on the electricity tax issue. A statement released after the meeting indicated that while the electricity tax will be reduced for industry, further relief measures – particularly a reduction for consumers and the broader economy – will follow “as soon as financial resources are available”.