The Federal Council is paving the way for the 9-euro monthly tickets to start punctually on June 1st.

According to the law passed by the Bundestag the evening before, the federal government is to provide, among other things, 2.5 billion euros to compensate for loss of income.

There had been several calls from the federal states for more money in general for local public transport (ÖPNV).

The sale starts next Monday.

In June, July and August, the special tickets are intended to enable travel in local and regional transport throughout Germany – for 9 euros a month each, which is much cheaper than normal monthly tickets.

In addition to providing relief because of the high energy prices, it should also be a trial campaign to attract more passengers and encourage them to switch from their cars.

The 9-euro ticket is therefore a "huge opportunity" for climate-friendly mobility, explained Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) at the final plenary debate on Thursday evening.

From his point of view, the project is already a success: "All of Germany is talking about local public transport." Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge told the German Press Agency: "We hope that as many people as possible will accept this offer."

Providers in the starting blocks

Bus and train operators and associations began weeks ago to add the new offer to ticket machines, websites and apps.

"All companies have signaled to us that they are technically ready and that we can start," said the Berlin-Brandenburg transport association.

The majority of providers – including Deutsche Bahn – want to activate sales on Monday.

Some start on Saturday.

Some providers have already sold the first thousand tickets, and sales in Hamburg are scheduled to begin on Friday.

The ticket is also intended to relieve millions of people who do not drive from the price increases resulting from the Ukraine war.

That is basically a good approach, said the traffic expert of the Federal Government for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Jens Hilgenberg, of the dpa.

It is more important, however, that the federal government provides significantly more money for better offers in the area in the long term.

"Thanks to the 9-euro ticket, there is no additional bus in rural areas." But it is precisely there that alternatives to your own car should be significantly strengthened, said Hilgenberg.

The Chamber of States had previously approved various other relief measures.

This is intended to relieve consumers of electricity prices.

After more than 20 years, the so-called EEG surcharge will be abolished in July.

The levy was introduced in 2000 to finance the promotion of wind or solar systems.

Customers pay them through their electricity bill.

It is currently still 3.72 cents per kilowatt hour and had already been reduced at the beginning of the year.

Actually, the EEG surcharge should not be abolished until the beginning of 2023, but the traffic light preferred that because of the rapidly increasing energy costs.

Experts do not expect electricity prices to fall as a result, but at least a dampening of the sharp increase.

The Federal Council also approved the amendment to the Energy Security Act.