The decisions of the Prime Minister's Conference on the future Corona policy met with a mixed echo in the economy.

It was praised that the heads of government of the federal states and Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) have promised that, given a vaccination rate of more than 50 percent, there will no longer be a complete shutdown of public life (lockdown).

The fact that the Corona bridging aid should continue to be paid for the time being was also praised.

However, there was criticism that the assessment of the infection rate should still be based primarily on the seven-day incidence, i.e. the number of infections detected per 100,000 inhabitants in the past week.

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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The employers complain that the companies - unlike the state - must continue to make their employees a free offer for corona tests in the future.

Because at the same time the Prime Minister's Conference decided to stop the free citizen tests from October 11th for all those people who can theoretically be vaccinated.

This is intended to create a financial incentive to vaccinate at a time when incidences are rising again, but still more than 30 million citizens have not even received an injection for COVID-19.

The rate of vaccination has decreased significantly, from more than a million doses a day in June to only a third of them now.

Extension of the bridging aid is welcomed

"It is important to extend the bridging aid instrument until the end of the year," said the chief executive of the DIHK Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Achim Dercks, of the FAZ Politicians see Dercks “the danger of renewed closure orders not averted”. He made it clear that the aid raised by taxpayers is tied to strict conditions and that there is no bottomless pit: "Wherever things are going better economically, companies will of course no longer have to make use of the aid when their sales increase." The situation in the coming months is still uncertain,which is why the economy welcomes the announced extension "as a signal of a reliable support offer for affected companies".

Point seven of the government resolutions states on the one hand that the federal states have asked the federal government to extend the easier access to short-time work allowance. That gives Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) tailwind to extend the special aid, even if there is supposed to be resistance in the Union parliamentary group according to reports.

On the other hand, the federal government promised on Tuesday to extend the bridging aid.

The Federal Ministry of Economics under Peter Altmaier (CDU) confirmed on Wednesday that the so-called bridging aid III for companies, self-employed persons and freelancers would be extended until the end of the year;

so far they run until the end of September.

“We will continue to stand firmly by the side of our companies and employees,” said Altmaier.

In order for business life to run normally again, vaccination is essential: "For our economy as a whole, vaccination is and will remain the central key."

115 billion aid

According to his ministry, the economy is on the up again. However, some branches continued to suffer, such as the event industry. There are already talks with the Ministry of Finance under Olaf Scholz (SPD) on the question of how the bridging aid would now be designed; the details are still unclear. So far, the central criterion for applying for "III" and "III Plus" support has been a decrease in sales of at least 30 percent. Since the beginning of February 10, around 16.6 billion euros have been paid out for the first instrument on 356,000 applications. As bridging aid III Plus, around 25.5 million euros have flowed since the start of the new program on July 23.

According to the information, all economic aid together amounts to 115.1 billion euros.

The short-time allowance hit with 38 billion euros.

Since November 2020 alone, non-repayable grants of 31.1 billion euros have been paid out.

Mixed feelings in dehoga

The German Hotel and Restaurant Association Dehoga shows mixed feelings. On the one hand, "the clear objective of the Prime Minister's Conference to ensure the permanent opening of our companies is to be welcomed," said Dehoga President Guido Zöllick. It is also correct that there should be no access restrictions for those who have not been vaccinated or who have not recovered. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had suggested a 2G regulation for certain infection situations, according to which the submission of a negative corona test would no longer have been sufficient as a prerequisite for entry. "The 2G regulation can only be justified as a last resort in the event of a significantly worsened infection situation," said Zöllick.

However, he considers the extensive adherence to the seven-day incidence as a benchmark for the pandemic situation to be worthy of criticism. The politicians would have missed the chance to take more meaningful parameters into account, such as the vaccination rate or the hospitalization rate. Scientists, doctors and lawyers also demanded this. To fix the 3G rules at an incidence of 35, of all things, is "legally questionable," said the Dehoga President. Now the federal states would have to ensure that the other key figures were also included by August 23. The trade association HDE praised the fact that politics had now developed a “more balanced catalog of criteria for assessing the pandemic situation”.