Subsidy debate in Germany: CDU criticises SPD paper on electric car subsidies

After the coalition committee agreed in principle on subsidies for electric cars for low- and middle-income households, the focus is now on the specific details, such as the amount of the subsidy, price and income limits, and so on. The SPD parliamentary group in the federal government (Bundestag) then drew up a paper setting out its wishes and demands regarding what the subsidy should look like.

A response has now been received from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, specifically from transport policy spokesperson Björn Simon, economic policy spokesman Andreas Lenz and environmental policy spokesman Mark Helfrich. The two politicians told the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper that the CDU/CSU is also in favour of a subsidy model “that makes the use of electric vehicles more affordable and also promotes the used car market.” This is very similar to what the SPD parliamentary group had previously formulated.

However, despite the fundamental agreement, there is also disagreement between the coalition partners. To ensure that the subsidy has a targeted effect and is not used to purchase overly expensive cars, the SPD parliamentary group, for example, proposed not only an income cap but also a maximum vehicle price of €45,000. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung report, the CDU and CSU view this critically. The three Union politicians believe that the value limit is ‘secondary’ when it comes to promoting the use of electric cars. “If a social component is to be achieved with the subsidy, this can also be done, for example, by setting an upper limit on the household income of applicants,” the statement said.

Another point in the SPD paper has also met with resistance from the CDU/CSU: although Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) announced that the programme would be financed by the Climate and Transformation Fund and the EU Social Fund, Social Democratic MPs had proposed imposing higher taxes on company cars with combustion engines and investing the additional revenue in electric mobility. Specifically, the tax rate would no longer be set at one per cent of the list price, but at 1.5 per cent.

According to the three spokespeople, the Union is ‘critical’ of this plan. It must be clear that combustion engines “make a significant contribution to the profitability of car manufacturers in Germany today and will continue to do so in the coming years,” the SZ quotes the Union politicians as saying. “Positive market control can be achieved without disadvantaging combustion engines.”

sueddeutsche.de (in German)

This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition