(de-news.net) – As energy and fuel prices rise, various forms of relief are being proposed by German unions, business representatives, the ADAC, the Greens, and DIW President Marcel Fratzscher. Lower energy and electricity taxes, fuel and gas price caps, direct energy payments, excess-profit taxation, and increased subsidies for electric vehicles are some of their recommendations. While the Greens associate energy assistance with the shift to renewable energy and electric vehicles, business representatives emphasize that short-term relief should not replace structural reforms.
Yasmin Fahimi, chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), has called for broad government assistance as households and businesses face rising energy costs. Fahimi has argued that Germany’s energy prices have reached exceptionally high levels and are increasingly damaging to economic activity and household finances. Against that backdrop, she has advocated reducing energy and mineral-oil taxes and cutting the national electricity tax across the board to the European minimum. In her view, the state should not derive additional revenue from higher energy costs at a time when those increases are creating serious difficulties for both businesses and households.
Fahimi has also called for a cap on fuel prices and the introduction of an excess-profit tax designed to capture potential additional earnings in the oil industry. With winter approaching, she has extended her demands to household heating costs, backing renewed limits on gas prices because many households could face difficulties covering their heating expenses.
The DGB chair has additionally called for nationwide demonstrations on September 26 against the government’s proposed social reforms, arguing that the measures would affect benefits that workers have earned through their contributions. She has maintained that the welfare state should be regarded as an entitlement built through contributions rather than as a form of charity. Among the pension provisions she wants preserved are the retirement-at-63 option and higher mothers’ pensions. Fahimi has also argued that increased federal transfers to the pension system could be supported through higher taxation of high earners, wealthy individuals and inheritances, linking pension financing to a broader debate over the distribution of the tax burden.
Business associations urge immediate relief and structural reform
A reduction in the electricity tax has also been endorsed by the German Automobile Association (ADAC) as a measure that would provide broader relief to consumers while potentially encouraging the shift toward electric vehicles. The organization has emphasized that consumers’ decisions over vehicle powertrains remain highly individual and are influenced by a range of factors, rather than fuel prices alone. Although current subsidies for new vehicles could expand the number of people able to afford an electric car, high purchase prices and limited charging opportunities continue to discourage some potential buyers from making the transition.
Meanwhile, Jörg Dittrich, president of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts and Small Businesses, has cautioned that temporary action on fuel prices should not come at the expense of longer-term structural reforms. He has acknowledged that immediate intervention can be understandable when rapid relief is required, but stressed that the government would still have to address the underlying economic problems. Rising gasoline and diesel prices, he has pointed out, can quickly affect household spending and domestic businesses. The consequences are particularly significant for companies operating large vehicle fleets and covering substantial distances, for which fuel represents a direct and recurring operating cost.
Dittrich has therefore advocated structural measures including reductions in the electricity tax and payroll-related labor costs, arguing that these steps could have a greater long-term effect than temporary payments intended to compensate for higher fuel expenses. The central issue, in his assessment, is how businesses can restore sustainable operating conditions and strengthen their economic resilience. His argument places the immediate fuel-price debate within a broader concern over the ability of domestic companies to remain economically viable under persistently elevated costs.
Direct relief or a cap on fuel prices as energy costs rise?
The SPD is calling for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs to impose a cap on fuel prices as part of efforts to provide relief to consumers facing persistently high costs at the pump. The proposal would place the ministry at the center of efforts to limit the prices paid by motorists, while highlighting a political divide over how such relief should be delivered. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU), however, favors a different approach, arguing for lower fuel prices through tax breaks rather than a price cap. She has also proposed direct payments for low-income people, adding a targeted form of financial assistance to the measures under discussion.
At the European level, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) is promoting the introduction of a windfall tax. The issue is expected to feature in his discussions with EU counterparts in Dublin, where he is due to address possible measures for dealing with persistently high fuel prices. The talks reflect the broader effort to consider policy responses to the continuing pressure on fuel costs while different approaches remain under discussion.
The Greens have proposed a socially graduated energy allowance of up to 250 euros per person, financed through what they describe as excessive profits earned by fossil-fuel companies. Their action plan calls for an excess-profit tax to generate funds for the payments, arguing that households and the wider economy require immediate relief as gas and gasoline prices remain high. The proposal would therefore combine direct assistance to consumers with a mechanism intended to draw additional revenue from companies benefiting from the energy-price environment.
The party has also called for a reduction in the electricity tax, arguing that lower electricity prices would strengthen incentives for electric mobility, heat pumps and electrically powered industrial equipment. Higher government subsidies for electric-car purchases are proposed as another way to accelerate the transition, including an additional 1,000-euro switching bonus for lower-income households. The Greens have also urged Economy Minister Reiche to ensure sufficient gas-storage levels while strengthening the expansion of renewable energy. Taken together, the proposals link immediate energy-cost relief with measures intended to encourage a longer-term shift away from fossil fuels.
Fratzscher calls for one-time energy payment
Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), has proposed a one-time energy payment for all citizens modeled on the 300-euro-per-person allowance introduced in 2022. He has argued that a direct payment would allow the government to cushion households against the effects of global oil prices without attempting to regulate prices that are largely beyond its control. Such an approach, in his view, would provide assistance directly to consumers and allow them to decide how to use the funds. By contrast, he has criticized the temporary fuel discount introduced in May and June, describing it as both economically ineffective and socially inappropriate.
Fratzscher has also expressed support in principle for an excess-profit tax on oil companies, while acknowledging that implementing such a measure would involve substantial technical difficulties. Determining how such a tax should operate would be complicated, he has indicated, but he considers those challenges less difficult to overcome than the task of establishing an effective fuel-price cap. His position consequently combines support for direct household assistance with skepticism toward measures aimed at controlling fuel prices themselves.
