London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 22, 2026

Germany’s Habeck admits gas levy mistake

Germany’s Habeck admits gas levy mistake

The minister’s surcharge plans prompted a backlash after it emerged profit-making companies could benefit.
Robert Habeck is trying to correct his first major misstep.

Germany’s Green vice chancellor has had a fairly good crisis so far — but his plans for a gas levy on consumers have drawn a backlash.

Last week, the government in Berlin passed the so-called gas surcharge, which will see Germans pay a few cents extra per kilowatt-hour of gas, meaning an average four-person household will pay €480 more a year.

The revenues are meant to finance a support fund for struggling energy companies to ensure the country’s supply won’t be disrupted as utilities face soaring costs for replacing Russian imports. A large chunk will go to Uniper, which recorded billions in losses.

But this week, it emerged that companies raking in record-high profits could also benefit from the surcharge.

Consumer protection groups were outraged.

"It is incomprehensible that with the gas levy [households] should support companies that are making a tidy profit,” said Federal Consumer Association chair Ramona Pop.

Habeck, Germany’s economy and climate minister, initially tried to defend his policy and asked profit-making companies to voluntarily waive any support claims. But after mounting criticism from the opposition and even within his own government, he backtracked.

At a business conference Thursday evening, Habeck said he would try to limit which companies can benefit from the revenues and acknowledged the current design of the levy presented a “political problem” that “has really ruined my day for the last 48 hours.”

The criticism, he admitted, was “correct.” He added that the current design meant companies may have a “legally justified claim. We will look at that again to see if there is a way to ward off this justified claim,” signaling potential legal problems with revising the levy at this stage.

“But,” he said, according to a transcript of the speech, “it is certainly not morally right for companies that — let me say it plainly — have earned big bucks to say: 'For the handful of revenue losses we had, we'll ask the population ... to also give us money.'”

Finance Minister Christian Lindner also said he was open to revising the measure.

For Habeck, whose popularity has soared far past Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s approval ratings, the gas levy marks his first significant blunder since taking office in December.

In previous months, he’s been busy shoring up Germany’s energy supply for the winter. That meant restarting coal plants, begging Middle Eastern autocrats for fossil fuels and taking another look at the country’s nuclear phaseout — a less-than-ideal image for a Green climate minister.

But he’s won plaudits for solid crisis management. Germany’s gas storage sites are more than 80 percent full — well ahead of schedule — a demand reduction plan has just been approved, and a major renewables bill was passed by parliament earlier this summer.

The levy’s design, however, prompted criticism even from within the coalition. Social Democrat chair Saskia Esken and Green youth wing leader Sarah-Lee Heinrich were among those who attacked the plan.

"It can’t be that society should now bear the losses while many companies have made excess profits during this crisis,” said Heinrich.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Andy Burnham Reaffirms UK Net-Zero Target With £30 Million Community Energy Fund
Scottish Labour Leader Backs Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea Projects
UK Consumer Confidence Falls to Three-Year Low
UK Diesel Prices Approach £2 a Litre as Global Supply Shortages Intensify
Chiltern Railways Returns to Public Ownership as UK Rail Nationalisation Advances
British Museum Faces Questions Over Peter Thiel’s Private Bayeux Tapestry Viewing
Earl Spencer Memoir Excerpts Renew Public Debate Over Diana’s Death
Liberal Democrats Gather in Brighton for Autumn Conference
Mothercare Shares Plunge as Middle East Store Closures Threaten Long-Term Solvency
Kent Police Treat Folkestone Hotel Fire as Suspicious
Caribbean Governments Advance Reparations Campaign Seeking Engagement With Britain
Scottish Labour Leader Backs Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea Projects
FCA Urges Young Adults to Trace £1.5 Billion in Unclaimed Child Trust Funds
UK Competition Regulator Opens Inquiry Into McCormick-Unilever Foods Deal
Public Inquiry Into Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Mental Health Failings Set to Begin
Nigel Farage Looks to US Immigration Enforcement Model for UK Border Policy
Chiltern Railways Moves Into Public Ownership
Security Review Raises Concerns Over Sensitive UK Police Data Stored on Microsoft Cloud
Burnham Government Warns of Difficult Autumn Budget as Fiscal Headroom Narrows
Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75% as Inflation Rises to 3.1%
Ed Sheeran Tour Faces Backlash After Macklemore Is Removed Over Pro-Palestinian Remarks
Vandalism of Traffic Cameras Intensifies Across Parts of England
Nearly 300 Evacuated as Fire Hits Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone
King Charles Warns AI Executives About Risks From Uncontrolled Technology
Church of England Apologises for Role in Historical Forced Adoption Practices
UK Debate Over Online Speech Intensifies After Arrest Figures Draw Scrutiny
Oxfordshire Village Holds Symbolic Independence Vote Over Asylum Accommodation Plan
Nigel Farage and Richard Tice Sue National Crime Agency Over Alleged Banking Data Leaks
Apple Introduces Stricter Age Checks for UK Accounts
BBC Cash Reserves Fall 66% to £125 Million as Broadcaster Restructures
McLaren Announces £500 Million UK Investment and Plans 1,000 Jobs
Green Party Wins Historic Gorton and Denton By-Election as Labour Falls to Third
Burnham Government Prepares October Budget Under Growing Fiscal Pressure
UK Energy Suppliers Pull Fixed-Price Deals as Wholesale Markets Turn More Volatile
Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75% as Middle East Energy Shock Raises Inflation Risks
Addison Lee Founder Loses £20 Million UK Tax Tribunal Case
BrewDog Creditors Face Losses on About £190 Million of Debt
Harrods Seeks to Recover Abuse Compensation Costs From Mohamed Al Fayed’s Estate
Ed Davey Targets Reform UK as Liberal Democrat Conference Opens
Great Britain Retail Sales Rise 0.5% in August
NHS England Approves Life-Extending Treatment for Incurable Breast Cancer
Proposals to Limit NHS ADHD Diagnoses Draw Criticism From Patient Groups
Resolution Foundation Warns of Housing Cost Crunch for Low-Income UK Families
BBC Cash Reserves Fall to Decade Low as Annual Deficit Reaches £121 Million
Millisecond Software Error Triggered Major UK Air Traffic Control Disruption
Twenty Women Underwent Unnecessary Mastectomies During NHS Cancer Care
Sensitive UK Police Data Found Vulnerable to Access by Foreign Actors
British Steel Faces Renewed Pressure for a Long-Term Financial Plan
MPs Urge Government to End Thames Water Restructuring Talks With U.S. Hedge Funds
Andy Burnham Warns of Difficult UK Budget Choices as Inflation Returns to 3.1%
×