Berlin.
The subsidies for heating oil and pellet customers have been a long time coming. Our author finds the farce just embarrassing.
what does she have Easter rest to do with the heating oil and pellets subsidy that has been planned for months? Just a quick reminder: the Easter peace was one of the less glamorous ideas that was fed by the almost creative spirit of the Corona summit, which met late into the night. When the then Chancellor Angela Merkel announced almost exactly two years ago after one of the countless Corona marathon sessions that Germany would be put into a shocking fairytale sleep over the Easter holidays, the excitement was great. What a crazy idea! – it was said at the time from all sides. Merkel cashed in on the Easter peace just one day later and had to apologize to the citizens live in front of the cameras – rightly so. “This mistake is entirely my fault,” she said.
If you want to tell this side note in history books in 100 or more years, then you have to give Merkel credit for the fact that the idea of the Easter rest was a consequence of Germany’s federal structure. The Easter peace sounds like a side issue of the political goings-on in Berlin, but it is sad proof that federalism and the constant search for the best possible compromise in the middle of an existential crisis are killing the country limits of his ability to act had brought.
Corona is now considered over. But even today, the example of the aid for heating oil and pellet customers shows that the rules of federalism should be questioned again. Incidentally, the same applies to the energy flat rate for students, which is finally being paid out after months of hic-hack between the federal and state governments.
Subsidy for heating oil and pellets: Federal states make consumers despair
When inflation shot up as a result of the Ukraine war, the federal government jumped to the side of the citizens with numerous relief packages and aid, in particular to cushion the sharp rise in energy costs. For a long time there had been a struggle for the relief: the traffic light coalition planned a total of 1.8 billion for the grants in the end – the federal states should take over the payment. At least that’s the plan. But affected consumers are still waiting for the money. The current pellet and heating oil prices have long since fallen sharply. When can the money be expected? Not clear. The same applies to the application. Unlike the aid for gas customers, the subsidy for heating oil and pellets must be applied for. This leads to the crude result that some of the consumer aid has already been paid out, while others cannot even apply for the subsidy.
Because here every federal state cooks its own soup. From Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, it is said that they are confident that the subsidy for heating oil and pellets can be applied for in April. It can be heard from Thuringia that a link should be placed on any page of any ministry, which should then lead to any website. It is hoped that this will “speed up” the processing and payment of the grant. This means that an application can be expected in May at the earliest.
And the other states? Every consumer has to laboriously collect the information. After all, the northern German states want to move forward in a coordinated manner, other federal states could join the initiative, as it is said. A centralized, unified approach is urgently needed.
The disenchantment with politics only increases with such incomprehensible political decisions and processes that drag on like chewing gum.
Heating oil and pellet aid: Berlin the lone leader
The German federalism is deeply rooted in the relatively young history of the republic. It is a system in which political power is divided between the federal government and the federal states – and which is ultimately intended to take into account the historical fragmentation of Germany with the diversity of its regions with their different traditions, cultures and dialects. Above all, however, it is a system that is part of our history but has often served its purpose – at least when it comes to finding quick answers to major problems in existential crises.
After all, the whole farce also carries good news: Only in Berlin is the payment of the fuel oil and pellets subsidy already for months. The capital, which is not exactly known for its organizational talent and therefore recently had to repeat an entire election, the lone leader – honestly, who would have ever thought that possible? This is little consolation for the affected consumers in the other federal states.
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