The new Energy Security Act, which will be the subject of final deliberations in the Bundesrat this Friday, has met with massive criticism from business.

This is about the regulation that energy importers and traders are allowed to pass on price increases to their customers in the event of shortages - for example as a result of supply interruptions or a Western embargo against Russia.

The justification for the reorganization is that the economy as a whole would suffer if the gas industry went bankrupt.

After consumer advocates had warned that prices would continue to rise sharply, the industry is now following suit.

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

  • Follow I follow

The timely safeguarding of an impending supply shortage is essential for the economy, which is why the change is fundamentally welcomed, says the managing director of the Association of the Automotive Industry VDA, Andreas Rade.

However, he is critical of the unilateral right to adjust prices, which the gas suppliers could use to pass on their additional costs.

"Existence-threatening burdens for the industry and social upheavals must be avoided in any case," Rade told the FAZ. "The international competitiveness of the German automotive industry must be secured." The traffic light coalition has a duty here, says Rade: "In the event of a gas shortage and sharply rising prices, the federal government should cushion the additional existential burdens for industry and consumers with quick and unbureaucratic compensatory measures."

However, Rade does not want to specify what kind of support he expects.

Lawyers and economists warn against state price caps or financial aid: for reasons of state aid law and also because the market then no longer sends any scarcity signals, there is no incentive to save energy and the price structure may no longer work at all.

The BDI also criticizes the law

The price adjustment clause is in paragraph 24 of the EnSiG abbreviated new law.

Other associations also hope that the Federal Council will push through changes to the draft.

Sebastian Bolay from the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) sees far-reaching consequences if the sharply rising gas prices are passed on to companies: “This can even mean that companies have to stop production for cost reasons.

This would not only jeopardize the existence of companies in Germany, but can also lead to supply problems."

Carsten Rolle from the Federation of German Industries BDI speaks of a "very one-sided exemption from liability for energy importers and traders".

The law ignores the fact that gas-related companies must also be given the opportunity to adjust their product prices and invoke force majeure.

It must also be made clear how long the exceptional situation will apply and whether the old contracts will then come into force again.

In the alarm or crisis stage of the gas emergency plan, the right to adjust prices should not take effect, since the market mechanisms would have to continue to apply there.

It should therefore remain limited to the emergency level.

"The regulation in the Energy Security Act is too one-sided and too far-reaching," says the expert.

In order to stabilize the energy supply, the Bundestag on Thursday evening and the Bundesrat on Friday also wanted to pass the LNG Acceleration Act.

It should enable the faster construction of liquid gas terminals.

The environmental impact assessment is to be suspended for this purpose.

After criticism, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) rowed back in parts.

The exception now only applies to mobile floating systems, which are to go online in Wilhelmshaven for the first time in December, but not to fixed terminals.

Nevertheless, the associations BUND, Nabu and WWF want to object to the start of construction in Wilhelmshaven.

According to a statement, the planned law would lead to “oversized and climate-damaging planning”.

Habeck initially described two LNG terminals as sufficient.

"The planned twelve terminals would more than compensate for a Russian delivery stop and solidify our dependence on fossil fuels far beyond the period in which we should already be free of gas supplies." This "fossil overcapacity" is 1.5 degrees -Target incompatible.