At Anne Will one is sure: In autumn it will be colder in German households. But how hard will it actually hit people in Germany?
Berlin – There is probably no one in Germany at the moment who has not been warned about rising energy costs or has not been affected by them. Especially with regard to the coming autumn and winter, the horror scenarios that are being circulated in public are overturning. The crisis could worsen significantly if, after the current alleged maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Russia no longer puts the gas pipeline into operation. Appropriately, the program on July 17 at Anne Will on ARD was entitled: “Fear of a lack of gas, horrendous prices – how hard is the crisis hitting Germany?
Anne Will (ARD): CDU criticizes traffic light government
At the end of the evening, the guests of the ARD discussion round could be clearly divided into two camps: Ricarda Lang, Federal Chairwoman of the Greens, and Rainer Dulger, President of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, belonged to one, a rather cautious argument, who never tired to plead for understanding for the federal government, which is looking for measures to counter the crisis. On the other hand, there were Jens Spahn, member of the executive committee and deputy parliamentary group leader of the CDU, and Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research Berlin, who, in contrast, cannot muster exactly this required understanding. For them, the government takes too long to make decisions.
Spahn was apparently particularly upset by the fact that the Bundestag is officially on summer vacation. He remarked several times to Anne Will on ARD that he couldn’t understand why they wanted to wait until September with such important decisions. “I don’t think it fits in with the times,” that the government is taking vacations when they actually have to take care of the fact that exactly those people who can’t afford vacations have to be financially relieved as soon as possible. This statement seemed quite populist.
Anne Will (ARD): Employers warn of “wage price spiral”
But the urgency of the situation was also underpinned by Fratzscher, who pointed out that, according to his calculations, 35 to 40% of the population, and thus large parts of the middle class, were going through difficult times. “It’s typically German that a lot of people don’t have any savings,” he continued, “so these people don’t have a protective mechanism.” The government must create one that works quickly and permanently. This includes raising wages, explained Fratzscher. “Wages are the best tool to help people because they know best what they need the money for”.
Dulger did not agree with this because he fears a wage price spiral. The social partners should jointly undertake the wage adjustments. “The companies are at the limit of their possibilities,” he said. For Fratzscher, this is presented too one-sidedly, with inflation there would not only be losers, but also winners. And that’s where you can get the money you need. He also pointed out that many sectors did not have collective agreements and that they therefore had greater difficulties in enforcing their wage negotiations.
Anne Will (ARD): Spahn accuses coalition of inactivity
In the first part of Anne Will’s program on ARD, people talked about the bush for a long time. Spahn was more concerned with proving the alleged inactivity of the traffic light coalition: “There is no plan. Every day there is a new proposal, but nothing is decided.” His comparison with Joe Biden, whom he believes is making the current crisis his priority, was of little help. For their part, Lang and Dulger struggled to defend the decision-making process. “It has to be a well-planned action,” Dulger said, and Lang felt that “there’s going to have to be a compromise.”
| Guests at Anne Will | |
| Rainer Dulger | President of the German Employers’ Associations |
| Marcel Fratzscher | German Institute for Economic Research Berlin |
| Ricardo Lang | Federal chair of Alliance 90/The Greens |
| Jens Spahn | Deputy parliamentary group leader CDU |
This statement was crucial when moderator Anne Will once again addressed one of her key questions of the evening. She wanted to know what would happen if gas actually ran out in autumn and winter. Could it be that supplies to the civilian population would be restricted in favor of industry? Do households have to freeze so that the economy does not experience any restrictions? Dulger said no to that. You will have to save on both sides, he explained. So it could be that households will be two to three degrees colder, for example, but not that the heating will be completely off.
Anne Will (ARD): “It’s about preventing a wave of poverty”
What everyone present agreed on was that the idea that the government could compensate for all the additional costs caused by the crises, i.e. Corona, the Ukraine war and inflation, should be abandoned. That’s why Fratzscher said: “Politics must aim at the people who have little,” which Lang followed and said: “It’s about preventing a wave of poverty.” At the same time, Spahn interjected with Anne Will on ARD that the state the main beneficiary of this inflation is that it leads to more tax revenue, and this additional money must be used accordingly. It was not possible to clarify how this should take place on the show. “We don’t do that through the media,” said Lang. So you will have to wait until the Bundestag is back from vacation. Then you will also learn whether the optimism that Dulger advocates will really be appropriate. (Teresa Vena)
