“The German double boom also puts Austria under pressure because our companies have a common market across the border, but of course they are also in competition with German companies on world markets,” warns SPÖ business spokesman Christoph Matznetter.

“Tomorrow we will be in the first reading with the legislative package,” reported the deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Verena Hubertz, in a background discussion. The support package with a volume of 200 billion euros is to be passed through the German Bundestag the week after next. Of this, 54 billion euros are to be allocated to the gas brake, which will relieve households and industry.

Household customers and SMEs should pay twelve cents per kilowatt hour for 80 percent of their estimated annual consumption. For industrial customers, 7 cents are planned for 70 percent of consumption. A cap of 9.5 cents has been set for district heating. The price brake should apply until April 2024 and take effect for industry from January. To reduce the price of electricity, households and small companies are to receive 80 percent of their previous consumption at a guaranteed gross price of 40 cents per kilowatt hour, for industry the price is to be 13 cents. There will also be upper consumption limits and money from a hardship fund, the SPD MPs reported.

In the US, the price of gas is only a tenth of what it is in Europe, and there are subsidies there too. “And taking this into account, we also need a European response,” said Hubertz.

“We must not forget the global environment,” said Matznetter. Export-oriented countries like Germany and Austria would have to count on the eastern continent all over the world. Energy price differentials like those between the US and Europe “pose a long-term risk of de-industrialization,” Matznetter warned. “What’s gone once is gone forever.”

A European solution has not yet been brought together “because the Commission’s proposal from a few days ago is ridiculously high.” Therefore, national action would have to be taken now. “And no doubt: The German double boom also brings Austria into Zugwang,” says Matznetter. To ensure that Austrian companies are not at a disadvantage, it is absolutely necessary to create an equivalent solution, “because we are a single market and a currency union”.