Gabriel Felbermayr, proponents of a new economic approach, welcomed the Federal Council’s decision to halt the planned “relief premium”. Speaking to RTL and ntv, Felbermayr criticized the measure, stating that it “lacks precision and is very expensive”. He urged the federal government to consider “better methods” if the goal is to provide financial relief and advised them to abandon the current measure. Given the strained budget situation, he also questioned whether any intervention was actually necessary at all.
While acknowledging that fuel prices are high, Felbermayr countered by noting that they are not “excessively high”. Should the government nevertheless wish to offer support, he advocated instead for targeted assistance. He suggested that the optimal way to help would be to direct support, calibrated specifically with payments aimed at households currently facing concrete difficulties. Conversely, he labeled blanket measures, applied indiscriminately, as “the worst of all alternatives”.