Bavarian Minister of Economics, Hubert Aiwanger of the Free Voters, expressed strong criticism of the federal government’s efforts to lower fuel prices. Speaking to the TV channel “Welt” on Tuesday, Aiwanger stated, “The government is completely embarrassed in this matter” referring to the new regulation limiting price increases at gas stations to once a day. He questioned the policy, suggesting that any citizen could see that such a measure would not work.
Aiwanger specifically held Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Katherina Reiche (CDU), and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) responsible. He argued they should have anticipated the issue and acted decisively rather than wasting time. According to him, this delay felt calculated, creating a pretext that they had accomplished something when in fact, nothing had changed.
Furthermore, Aiwanger dismissed the revised commuter allowance favored by Reiche, calling it inadequate, too delayed, and not universally beneficial. He insisted that the relief should be applied directly at the pump rather than being handled indirectly through taxes later on. Instead, he demanded the abolition of the CO2 price and a reduction in energy taxes.
According to Aiwanger, the CO2 levy is rooted in political and ideological beliefs, accusing the Greens of pushing this narrative, despite not being in government, thereby contributing to the mainstream adoption of the “golden calf” CO2 tax.
He also countered concerns regarding the financing of a CO2 tax suspension. Aiwanger dismissed the idea of foregone gasoline taxes as a “child’s arithmetic” asserting that the opposite was true. He argued that the high current fuel prices are harming the economy, and if the economy improved, state revenues would naturally increase, meaning that savings at the pump would be refinananced by stronger economic performance. For context, revenues from the CO2 price in Germany currently feed into the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF), which supports areas like expanding e-charging infrastructure and scaling up the hydrogen economy. Starting in 2028, the European Emission Trading System for buildings and road transport (EU-ETS 2) is set to replace the national CO2 price.
