The measure aims to encourage Germans to take public transport as often as possible rather than their car: in response to soaring petrol prices and dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, the ruling coalition in Germany announced , Thursday, March 24, that it was going to temporarily reduce the prices of public transport.
“Taking the bus and train will probably never have been so cheap in Germany”, Greens party co-leader Ricarda Lang said as she unveiled the scheme which will see passengers pay just nine euros a month for 90 days for local public transport. “We want to encourage users to make more use of local public transport where possible”added the co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Lars Klingbeil, about this announcement which appears in a budget aid plan of several billion euros presented Thursday.
Aiming to reduce household bills, which have soared with the rise in energy costs in the context of the war in Ukraine, the package of measures also includes for all taxable employees an exceptional payment of 300 euros. The poorest households will be granted additional aid of 100 euros, as well as a bonus of 100 euros per child, in addition to family allowances.
Finally, the energy tax on fuels will be reduced for three months and brought back “at the minimum European level”, ie a reduction of 30 cents per liter for petrol and 14 cents per liter for diesel.
Forced to deprive itself of Russian gas, Germany gives itself the possibility of “suspend until further notice” the closure of certain coal-fired power stations, while maintaining the objective of an exit from this fossil energy in 2030, according to an agreement signed between the parties of Olaf Scholz’s coalition, presented on Thursday. These possible suspensions will be held “after review by the Federal Network Agency“, he explains.
In the short term, the country wants “reduce gas consumption in the production of electricity in the short term”, what will pass, according to the agreement published Thursday, by maintaining “on security watch” of coal-fired power stations to deal with any risk of shortage.
Exiting coal in 2030, rather than 2038 as planned by the former government of Angela Merkel, is one of the flagship measures of the new coalition, where the Greens hold a prominent place, in a country which has decided to turn its back on nuclear power following the accident in 2011 at the Japanese power plant in Fukushima.