Robert Habeck does not have the energy crisis under control. Instead of jumping over his shadow and resolutely increasing the energy supply, he calls for the next “special fund”. It doesn’t solve a single problem and only causes chaos with the gas levy.
Ministers have already resigned for less: Robert Habeck has deeply unsettled people in Germany with his completely half-baked gas levy plan, he has made companies fear for their location, and he has created more problems than he could solve.
And it also triggered chaos in the government: After everyone remained silent or supported him, a large majority in the government, from Christian Lindner to Saskia Esken, now rejects the project. Even the chancellor is embarrassed and refers to a working group. Habeck himself rows back in the face of this heap of broken glass. He should think about whether he should say goodbye to the field altogether.
The list of mishaps is long: Habeck launched a gas levy in August that was supposed to help the stumbling energy company Uniper, but would actually have benefited well-earning suppliers from abroad who could hardly believe their luck.
When the embarrassment became visible and Uniper continued to stagger, he announced nationalization and stuck to the levy. Financing a state-owned company with a compulsory state levy – you don’t have to be a constitutional lawyer to find that wrong.
Last but not least, he brings a “special fund” of 100 billion euros into play to get the energy crisis under control. He plays the buck to Finance Minister Christian Lindner. He should fight back. First of all, every special fund is just a deal to build up a shadow budget bypassing the budget. Secondly, this is not about wealth, but about the opposite: debt.
And thirdly and most importantly: Additional money to alleviate the energy crisis can only be given if the Economics Minister finally switches gears and really does everything possible to increase the energy supply. That means switching nuclear power back on, checking gas fracking, trying out drilling in the North Sea, optimizing coal-fired power plants and promoting future energy technologies. And of course: Advancing the renewables. Just announcing it would do all of this would drive prices down. It would look like a real plan. As long as Habeck doesn’t have him, he’s the wrong man in the wrong place in a crisis.
The article “Mr. Habeck, your absurd gas allocation chaos must come to an end” comes from WirtschaftsKurier.
