The Germans are suffering more and more from the enormous price increases and the relief package for the traffic lights leaves a lot to be desired. This applies in particular to the tank discount. Because so far it has not been the drivers who have benefited from it, but the oil giants. Fixed fuel prices would be the better solution.
The prices go up and up and up. Goods and services were 7.9 percent more expensive in May than a year ago — the highest rate of inflation in over 40 years. For families with low and middle incomes, this is a dramatic additional burden. Because 45 percent of households in Germany have to make do with less than 2,500 euros per month net.
The so-called traffic light relief package came into force three weeks ago. Everything’s going to be all right now — isn’t it?
Hardly likely. After the combination of good weather, long weekends and a 9-euro ticket pushed regional trains to their limits and beyond, the long-awaited fuel discount of 15 cents per liter was awaited. However, not much happened. The hesitant fall in prices at the petrol pumps was quickly over, and in many cases fuel prices are back to the same level as before the subsidy was introduced. Where does the money go if it doesn’t seem to reach the consumer?
The answer is simple: the oil giants and the federal government earn a lot! In recent weeks, the Saudi oil company Saudi Aramco has replaced Apple as the most valuable company in the world, and in Germany one of the biggest beneficiaries is the Russian state-owned company Rosneft, which often even earns several times through various investments in the oil refineries. So what the federal government is selling us here as a tank discount is ultimately nothing more than Putin solos and collection bags for the sheikhs.
Instead of questioning their own politics, the Greens and the SPD are now in the spirit of the excess profit tax. After all, there is no problem in the left-wing world that cannot be solved by higher taxes.
The fact that the current additional profit is also fed by the federal government’s tank discount is something that the traffic light would like to ignore, just as the federal government with its taxes and duties benefits from every price increase at the pump. Better to invent a new tax than to deal with the mistakes of your own policy.
The principle of a tank discount can also work, as we see in France, Italy and Spain. Here, the state subsidy is not even shown on the price boards at the petrol stations, but only charged when paying at the checkout – this creates transparency for consumers.
The fact is, however, that the market does not work and that a few oil giants determine it. So I propose another option: let’s peg the prices of gasoline and diesel to the current price of crude oil — which has recently recovered. So if the oil price on the world market falls, the prices at the pump also fall; if it rises, we have to pay more.
I think that’s a much better solution than, for example, rigid price caps, which are currently being tested in some countries. This would limit the margins, as we know it from other areas – for example from the nursing home operators.
So, dear federal government: Abolish the tank discount and introduce fixed fuel prices!
Instead, the traffic light prefers to distribute state aid with the watering can. An example: as much as I’m happy about 300 euros in energy money – high earners don’t need it. The traffic light should rather focus on those who really need it and stagger the subsidy: 500 euros up to an annual income of 50,000 euros and 300 euros for everyone who earns less than 100,000 euros.
However, students and pensioners must not fall off the back again. That would be a real relief for those who need it. To be honest, there are no quick and easy solutions to the current challenges. The fact that the federal government is still doing this and failing as a result leaves me speechless. The people suffering from current energy prices deserve honesty — and real help.
