CDU leader Friedrich Merz has called for a price cap in view of the drastically increased energy prices.
"And not in private households at home, but in the wholesale prices, which we say: for electricity, for oil, for coal, especially for gas from Russia, there is now a price cap, and wholesalers no longer pay more," said Merz at the start of the election campaign of the Lower Saxony CDU in Osnabrück.
The expectation is that this will lead to lower prices on the market. However, it is also clear that prices will not return to the level before the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The days of cheap gas from Russia are over. "Cheap imports from China, expensive products from Germany all over the world, and the Americans pay for our security: this division of labor for Germany is over," emphasized Merz.
City day calls for "big solution"
The German Association of Cities is demanding a "big solution" from the governing coalition for relief. "The traffic light must not get bogged down in small things," said President Markus Lewe (CDU) of the dpa with a view to today's coalition committee of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
"Many people are concerned that they will no longer be able to pay their energy bills and the rising prices. Clubs and companies are also groaning under the rising costs."
Representatives of the traffic light coalition are meeting in Berlin this Saturday to discuss further relief in view of rising prices. Among other things, targeted help for pensioners and students and tax cuts as well as a successor regulation for the 9-euro ticket are under discussion.
Appeal to the traffic lights
The mayor of Münster appealed to the coalition to agree on "concrete and effective relief". "Heating cost subsidy and child bonus are fast help that reaches those affected very precisely. That is good and right. But we also need a big solution for this winter that works quickly and can be implemented in practice." Lewe campaigned for an energy price cap: "With a capped basic budget, the energy supplier's bill for customers could be lower and the incentive to save could still be retained."
