German parliament may renegotiate CO₂ price level in climate package - media

The German parliament (Bundestag) and council of state governments (Bundesrat) mediation committee will begin negotiations on the recently passed climate package on the evening of 9 December. Officially, the committee will debate several of the package's tax projects, such as a reduction in value-added tax for long-distance train tickets and support for the energy-efficient renovation of residential buildings. However, the planned CO2 price in transport and buildings could also be brought up, as the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has called for “further developing” the current measures at its party conference, writes Albert Funk in Tagesspiegel. It has already been voted on by both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

Starting in 2021, the price on carbon is set at 10 euros per tonne of emissions and will rise in subsequent years. Politicians, researchers and NGOs have criticised the price level as too low to incentivise a change in behaviour. Funk writes the price could “informally” be included in the talks. Christian Democratic (CDU) state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet told Welt am Sonntag that the CO₂ price would be talked about with the Green Party “anyway”. The Greens – who are part of many state governments – call for a more ambitious price. Meanwhile, Saarland's Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) warned against radical increases in the CO2 price at the expense of citizens, wrote news agency dpa. "It must remain with moderate increases and appropriate reliefs, for instance, in the form of the commuter allowance or in the form of subsidies for energy-saving heaters," Hans said to dpa referring to the mediation committee.