Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) has announced that the government will pursue allegations of unjustified profits made by oil and gas conglomerates more vigorously under antitrust law during the current crisis. Speaking on Monday on ZDF’s Heute-Journal, Klingbeil stated that this represents a key difference from the gas price reductions implemented in 2022: “We have established through antitrust law that this can be scrutinized more strongly when we observe the oil and gas conglomerates attempting to make unjustified profits during this crisis”. Previously, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) had dismissed Klingbeil’s proposals for a windfall tax as “expensive, ineffective, and constitutionally questionable”. Furthermore, Klingbeil told ZDF that he was relieved after the meeting of the four party leaders over the weekend, which yielded solutions also within the coalition committee. He added that several of his advocated ideas were now included in the coalition’s decisions, stressing that the focus should be on what the coalition has in common rather than on opposing points, as this is what the public expects.
Politics
