The heads of government of the federal states are coming together this Wednesday for a special conference in Berlin: It is about the planned third relief package against the consequences of the energy crisis - and the question of who should participate financially and to what extent.

Contrary to what was originally planned, there will be no federal-state talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) afterwards.

The Chancellor had asked him to postpone these consultations until October 4th, the current Minister Presidents' Conference Chairman, North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), surprisingly announced on Tuesday.

As government circles in Berlin confirmed, Scholz would like to take part in the consultations personally.

This is currently not possible for the Chancellor due to his corona-related isolation, explained Wüst.

The country heads still wanted to come together to work on solutions.

"We need substantial relief quickly so that the worst social hardships can be noticeably alleviated in winter with rising prices," said Wüst.

“The states are expressly reaching out to the federal government so that many people can quickly get a common signal of hope.” He hopes that the red-yellow-green federal government will end its internal dispute in good time, “so that we can help together effectively can,” emphasized the CDU politician.

Controversy between the federal and state governments

The MPK chairmanship of North Rhine-Westphalia expires at the end of the month and will then be handed over to Lower Saxony.

Wüst will be co-chair of the country group in October.

On Wednesday afternoon, he wants to report on the results of the MPK together with the current co-chair, Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD).

At the beginning of the month, the federal government presented a third relief package worth 65 billion euros to compensate for rapidly rising prices.

These include one-off payments for pensioners and students as well as a price cap for a basic electricity requirement.

The federal government offers money for a follow-up offer of the 9-euro ticket - if the states help finance it.

However, the financing issues have not yet been clarified between the federal and state governments.

The prime ministers are vehemently opposed to excessive cost burdens and criticize the style of the traffic light coalition in terms of the surcharge that has not been agreed with the federal states.

Individual countries have already threatened blockades in the Bundesrat.

SPD parliamentary group Vice Post urges haste

"We will provide many billions of euros to relieve the economy and especially those people who are particularly hard hit," said Wüst.

"When financing the package, there must be a fair distribution of the burden so that the federal states and local authorities can meet their own responsibility in this crisis."

The sharing of the burden must be clarified both in the planned increase and expansion of the housing benefit and in the case of the additional needs of the hospitals as a result of rising energy and material costs.

This also applies to a "clear commitment" to the expansion of regionalization funds for buses and trains promised by the federal government last year, as well as to the financing of refugee costs.

The consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine are felt in many ways on the ground.

"We therefore owe a fair sharing of the burden to the local towns, communities and districts," warned the MPK chairman.

The SPD faction deputy in the Bundestag, Achim Post, warned in the "Rheinische Post" against "getting bogged down in financing issues", decisive are quick relief for the citizens.

"In my view, it goes without saying that the federal states are now also contributing their part to the financing, especially since the tax revenue of the federal government has recently declined in relation to that of the federal states."

Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) told the newspaper that the dispute between the federal and state governments had to stop.

"We will need a massive fourth relief package that will primarily pull small and medium-sized businesses and energy-intensive companies off the edge of the abyss."