Katharina Dröge, the Green Party’s parliamentary group chair in the Bundestag, highlighted two key points during an appearance on the RTL and ntv program “Frühstart” on Wednesday. She urgently called for a reduction in the electricity tax while arguing against extending the existing fuel discount.
Dröge declared that lowering the electricity tax could have been implemented swiftly and stressed that this would have been a necessary move by the coalition committee. She dismissed the coalition’s failure to enact this measure as a significant disappointment.
In contrast, she dismissed the notion of maintaining the fuel discount, arguing that the discount has already been progressively reduced to smaller and smaller fractions. According to Dröge, these initiatives, coupled with the measures Federal Minister Friedrich Merz (CDU) has proposed in the current crisis, are ultimately flawed. She pointed out that one measure was halted by the Bundesrat, and the reduction of the fuel discount repeatedly proves ineffective. She stated the discount had already failed in previous attempts when the Green Party was part of the governing coalition, predicting failure again and thus advising against any extension whatsoever.
Instead of tax relief or fuel subsidies, Dröge advocated for measures that simultaneously incentivize citizens to switch to alternative technologies. Given that oil and gas prices are already sufficiently high, she argued the coalition could now do much to make sustainable living alternatives more affordable. Specific suggestions included proposing a scrapping premium for older heating systems.