German states to push for petrol price cap – EURACTIV.com
The premiers of the German Länder agreed on Wednesday to call on the federal government to introduce a cap on the price of petrol to relieve consumers.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, underlined that there was a broad consensus between him and his counterparts on the need for a price cap for electricity and gas .
“The energy price cap must arrive quickly, provide tangible relief, and be simple and unbureaucratic to implement,” Weil stressed.
He also called for additional aid programs in areas where price caps alone would not be enough to relieve citizens of the financial burden of exorbitant gas prices.
“Citizens watch with great concern the prices of energy which continue to rise. They expect us to send signals of national unity and unity and constructive cooperation between the federal government and state governments to deal with the crisis,” he said.
The German government has already announced that it is working on a solution including a price cap, but it is still unclear how gas prices should be limited. The government has convened a commission of experts to draw up concrete proposals by the end of October.
Federal and state governments will also negotiate next Tuesday on the third relief package that the traffic light coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and liberal FDP presented in early September to offset the drastic price hike.
(Oliver Noyan | EURACTIV.de)
