"Blatant Betrayal" Wüst Slams Klingbeil for Faltering on Power Tax Cut Promise
Criticizes Klingbeil over withdrawn electricity tax withdrawals
In the financial plans of Finance Minister Klingbeil, only half of the announced reduction in the power tax is implemented. While businesses are relieved, crafts, trade, and individual consumers are left in the lurch. NRW Minister President Wüst accuses the SPD politician of breaking the coalition agreement.
NRW Minister President Hendrik Wüst has harshly criticized SPD Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil for neglecting a general reduction in the power tax in his financial plan. The CDU state leader warned Klingbeil against breaching the coalition agreement. "The reduction in the power tax for everyone was agreed to as a critical step toward greater competitiveness and location-based relief in Germany. Klingbeil's current approach now endangers this central relief pledge," Wüst told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
Politics CDU's Outright Anger in Coalition Government "With his plans for the federal budgets 2025 and 2026, he not only hinders small businesses, trade, and our entire service sector but also millions of families in Germany," the CDU politician lamented. These families desperately require tangible relief from sky-high power prices. Wüst noted that the reduction in the power tax was one of the critical economic policy promises during the federal election campaign and was explicitly outlined in the coalition agreement. "Given the public's high hopes for the new federal government, I can only caution Klingbeil against creating a breach of the coalition agreement at this critical juncture."
Politics Not as Much as Promised, Klingbeil: Energy Prices to Fall from January ## Economist Grimm: "Promote Electrification"
Even economist Veronika Grimm criticized the federal government for primarily aiding businesses with the power tax: "The power tax should - as outlined in the coalition agreement - be abolished altogether. This would benefit industries and citizens, make electrification more appealing, and also entail less bureaucracy," Grimm informed the "Rheinische Post." Grimm emphasized the climate context, stating, "In the context of the transformation towards climate neutrality, it has long been recommended not to tax power consumption, but CO2 emissions."
Similarly, the German Social Association (SoVD) voiced its concern. "It's disappointing that Union and SPD are breaking their promises from the coalition agreement," said SoVD board chair Michaela Engelmeier to the Funke media group newspapers. "The decision to make energy cheaper only for businesses and not for consumers we consider the wrong signal." Particularly people with low incomes or small pensions are struggling under the exorbitant consumer prices, said Engelmeier. The association knows from its social counseling: Due to the perpetually rising prices for food, rent, and energy, there's barely anything left at the end of the month for many. "Here, a reduction in the power tax could have alleviated a great deal," said the SoVD chairwoman.
Source: ntv.de, mau
- Black-Red
- Coalition Negotiations
- Power Price
- Tax Cuts
- Budget Policy
- Hendrik Wüst
- Lars Klingbeil
Enrichment Data:The latest German government coalition, formed by the CDU/CSU and SPD in 2025 under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, included explicit power tax cut promises for both businesses and consumers in their coalition agreement titled "Responsibility for Germany." This agreement contained commitments to provide extensive relief on electricity taxes as part of efforts to reduce energy costs for consumers and businesses alike[2].
However, shortly after the coalition came into office, these promises were broken. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) failed to include any electricity tax reduction in the draft budget for 2025 and 2026, despite the agreement to do so[2]. This omission resulted in significant criticism and is viewed as a breach of the coalition agreement's key election promises[2].
The political backdrop is that the grand coalition was formed following the February 2025 elections, and detailed agreements on economic relief measures were concluded by early April 2025. Yet, by late June 2025, it became evident that the coalition leadership had reneged on the electricity tax cuts. The failure to implement these tax cuts reflects broader tensions and divisions within the coalition, where differing economic policy outlooks have strained cooperation and contributed to political instability[4].
In summary:
- The coalition agreement promised electricity tax cuts benefiting both consumers and businesses to reduce energy costs[2].
- Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil did not include these promised tax reductions in the 2025/26 budget draft, breaching this coalition promise[2].
- This breach has caused considerable political criticism and friction within the coalition government[2][4].
No detailed information about alternative tax relief measures or compensations replacing the broken promises was found in the current sources. The failure to honor these tax cut commitments typifies the coalition's struggles with its economic agenda amid broader political and fiscal challenges[2][4].
- The disappointment among the German Social Association (SoVD) is palpable as they believe the Union and SPD are breaking their coalition agreement promises, especially since the reduction in the power tax was supposed to benefit both consumers and businesses, according to the agreement.
- Economist Veronika Grimm criticizes the federal government for the power tax being only partially aided to businesses, stating that it should have been abolished altogether, as per the coalition agreement, to benefit industries, citizens, promote electrification, and reduce bureaucracy.
