The opposition intends to quickly address the flaws present in the new tobacco tax. The Greens are specifically calling for an investigation within the Finance Committee to understand how the law was able to become effective prematurely with significantly higher tax rates. Katharina Beck, the Greens’ parliamentary spokesperson for financial policy, told the “Bild-Zeitung” that, “We are trying to put this topic on the agenda of the next Finance Committee as quickly as possible through an in-depth review.” The Greens also plan to call for a special parliamentary debate-an “Aktuelle Stunde.”
Meanwhile, Kay Gottschalk, an AfD finance politician, informed the newspaper that an ‘Aktuelle Stunde’ on the matter has already been registered internally with the first parliamentary secretary in the Finance working group. According to Gottschalk, this debate is expected to be scheduled for the plenum in the coming week, depending on the existing parliamentary agenda.
