The SPÖ again calls for price cuts – and wants price ceilings not only for gas, but also for fuel and a further shift in the CO2 tax. Natural gas must be purchased and supported by the state – that is, below the purchase price – to businesses, households and gas power plant operators. “Nothing is more expensive to economies than hundreds of thousands of unemployed,” boss Pamela Rendi-Wagner said Friday. Inflation is no longer as high as in 1952, “the year my mother was born”.
For Rendi-Wagner, the fact that Germany is now taking action means that they no longer believe in a European solution. It was also time for a “double boom” in Austria, she quoted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Coverage for gas, petrol and diesel, deferral of CO2 tax
The SPÖ accuses the turquoise-green federal government of failing to act. By contrast, the SPD-led government in Germany acknowledged the problem and took on 200 billion euros for a “unique state intervention”. Among other things, the VAT on natural gas will be reduced. In addition to an upper limit for gas, the SPÖ also demands a limit for petrol and diesel and a shift in CO2 pricing.
The new German inflation package is worth about EUR 2,400 per inhabitant. In Austria, since the beginning of 2022, the federal government has provided a total of 36 billion euros with its four packages – ie with energy cost subsidy, climate bonus, tax reform and most recently with the electricity price brake. That is about 4000 euros per inhabitant.
ÖEN: Experts should make “better suggestions”.
The union federation is also calling for state price caps. “We need both an electricity price cap and a gas price cap,” ÖGB boss Wolfgang Katzian said on ORF radio. Pricing in the energy sector is the cause of the high prices. “Fighting the case means separating the gas and electricity markets at European level.” Experts who are skeptical of that readily advise Katzian to make “better suggestions.”
Source: Krone
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
