Energy – Hanover – “An election campaign gag”: Criticism of the implementation of the hardship fund – economy
Hanover (dpa / lni) – The implementation of the announced hardship fund of the state government has met with clear criticism from several quarters. The leader of the Greens parliamentary group, Julia Willie Hamburg, said when asked by the dpa: “The hardship fund announced by Prime Minister Weil and his deputy Althusmann at the beginning of August turns out to be an empty promise. Nothing has been clarified.” SPD and CDU only point to the federal government instead of doing something for Lower Saxony. “Valuable time is lost every day. Because many people in Lower Saxony are in dire need of existence.”
The second opposition faction, the FDP, is also critical. In a joint statement, the social politician Susanne Schütz and the budget politician Christian Grascha said: “There are still no concrete proposals as to which instruments should be used and how they should be designed. So far, the announcement has been purely an election campaign gimmick.” The state elections in the federal state are on Sunday.
The SPD-CDU state government announced around two months ago that up to 100 million euros should be made available for an emergency energy fund this year. About half of this is earmarked for the local hardship fund.
These should come into effect, for example, when people have difficulties in being able to pay their energy costs. However, many questions are still unclear. For example, when consumers are entitled to help, when they can apply for it or whether companies can also receive money. The other half of the 100 million euros is to be used for the expansion of debtor or energy advice.
The state poverty conference welcomed the establishment of the fund as a good step, but the concept was unclear and the step would come too late and was too small. “The fact that the fund should only be finalized after the election has a taste. The focus must be on quick, direct help for people with little money,” it said. The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) announced that the state and local authorities must now develop a viable concept quickly and constructively.
A supplementary budget is necessary for the up to 100 million euros. This is currently being worked on intensively, according to the Ministry of Finance. The supplementary budget should therefore be presented to the cabinet and parliament as soon as possible after the state elections. The next regular parliamentary session is in November.
The Ministry of Social Affairs said that the implementation and possible criteria for the municipal hardship fund are currently being intensively discussed and coordinated between the state, the municipal umbrella organizations and the energy industry. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, it is planning to pay out the state money as part of a so-called equity guideline, which also enables retrospective funding, so that the money should reach those affected more quickly.
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) said he was ready for a supplementary budget in November if he was re-elected. However, he sees a need for support that goes well beyond the 100 million euros.
In the event of his re-election, Weil had promised a quick relief package worth one billion euros for the country in the energy crisis. His CDU challenger Althusmann had said that he considered these SPD plans to be “dubious”. With other coalition partners at their side, the significantly larger sum is more likely to apply to Weil, since Finance Minister Reinhold Hilbers (CDU) in particular insists on compliance with the debt brake.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:221006-99-23636/2