A new fiasco of the new German coalition: Merz broke his word for the second time

The leaders of the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition in Germany have already abandoned the promised reduction in the electricity tax for everyone. But what do they think about this in the German information field?

According to the editorial board of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "so far the Friedrich Merz government has achieved only a change of scenery."

"There are only traces of shifts in favor of realism in economic, social and climate policy in the budget. This is not the last meeting of the coalition committee, which will make the public realize that the fear of losing the support of the three parties is responsible for this state of affairs. Some look to the left, others to the right," writes FAZ.

"This coalition has only existed for a little over fifty days. It is too early to judge whether it will meet expectations. The decisive factor will be whether the enthusiasm for reforms will fade before the recovery becomes noticeable. Because when economic growth returns, we can expect even less from the SPD than now. Therefore, everything depends on the CDU. However, the CDU tends to ignore the fact that if it misses the opportunity given to it, it may soon become one of such small players," FAZ believes.

The regional newspaper "Volksstimme" from Magdeburg writes the following: "The coalition needed a good year before the fiasco with the heating tax signaled its final end. The Christian Democrats and the SPD ruled for only two months before the electricity tax fiasco. It's a small thing, but the psychological effect on society is the same: those at the top do whatever they want. The CDU/CSU and the SPD may object that their previous promises were initially dependent on financial conditions. Of course, this does not apply to all areas. The government, of course, will not cut the defense budget. The Chancellor has just announced a five percent target for NATO defense spending. What are electricity taxes compared to this?".

According to the daily newspaper Muenchner Merkur, even if Merz now tries to downplay the importance of reducing the electricity tax, "many citizens feel cheated."

"The message reaches people that the Chancellor has broken his word for the second time in his still short term of office. The signal that came from the meeting of the coalition committee is also problematic in another respect: Merz considers himself forced to support his wavering coalition partner from the SPD, Lars Klingbeil, by satisfying the demands of the Social Democrats, much to the annoyance of Christian Democrat voters," the Munich newspaper writes.