Gas price brake: the fairy tale of the winter gap

Next year in March there will be presents again.

Then consumers should receive gas, district heating and electricity mostly at government-capped prices – even retrospectively for January and February.

The government buckled with its draft law under pressure from countries that had created a "winter gap".

The Gas Commission expressly understood the one-time payment in December, when the state takes over the full down payment for gas and district heating, as help for the months that follow.

But in Berlin nobody dared to refute the myth of insufficient relief, not even chief communicator Robert Habeck.

Instead, the economics and finance ministries are doing what was already the core of the crisis policy in the Corona period: billions are being distributed among the people from credit-financed aid pots such as the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), accompanied at the time by the sounds of "bazooka", today by the Chancellor Anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone".

At the same time, many citizens could certainly bear the increased energy prices on their own.

The three relief packages that have already taken place and the aid that is now planned from the WSF add up to around 300 billion euros.

In Berlin, there is no longer any talk of the goal that was issued in the spring of being more targeted this time than during the Corona crisis.

A lot helps a lot is the motto in a country where there is always a prime minister on the campaign trail.

But nobody should be under the illusion that there is a money printer in the basement of the Treasury Department.

We are all the state.

Whatever aid is flowing in now, this or the next generation of taxpayers will have to pay back.

And then there is the question of how much incentive citizens and companies still have to save energy in view of the various reliefs.

Most recently, gas consumption was significantly lower than the average of previous years.

However, winter has only just begun, and the new LNG terminals can only replace part of the missing supplies from Russia.

The temptation to promise further relief beyond what is planned should be resisted as far as possible by all those involved, not only with a view to finances.