Deutschlandticket could be scrapped this year
The endless dispute over the Germany-wide rail pass continues, this time at a special conference of transport ministers.
The federal and state transport ministers are meeting in Berlin to negotiate, among other things, the financing of the Deutschlandticket beyond 2025. If no agreement is reached, the pass could be scrapped in 2026.
The Germany-wide ticket has been available since May 2023 and allows holders to travel on regional and local public transport throughout Germany. The price of the ticket increased by nine euros to 58 euros per month in January 2025.
The offer is mainly financed by the federal and state governments, which are each contributing 1.5 billion euros. Additional costs have so far been covered by the price increase and remaining funds from 2023. However, there are still no arrangements in place from the end of 2025.
The ongoing dispute over financing has long been a source of frustration for consumers and transport companies in particular.
“It is unacceptable that millions of people have to worry about their Deutschlandticket again and again,” said Christoph Bautz, managing director of the campaign organization Campact. “We expect the transport ministers to agree on permanent and reliable financing.”
Tax brakes for businesses approved
The Bundestag has approved billions in tax breaks to help the economy out of its crisis.
“This is what this government has set out to do: put economic strength, growth, and job security at the forefront,” said Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) in the Bundestag debate.
Specifically, companies will be able to write off their expenditures for machinery and equipment on a declining scale for tax purposes in the current year and the next two years - up to 30 percent. Once the so-called booster has expired, corporate income tax is to be reduced gradually from 15 percent at present to 10 percent in 2032.
In addition, the purchase of purely electric cars will become more attractive for companies from a tax perspective.
The federal government, states, and municipalities will lose around €48 billion in tax revenue as a result of the package, with the federal government bearing most of the burden. The law still has one hurdle to clear: the states still have to vote it through in the Bundesrat on July 11, although they have already signaled their approval.
And tax cuts on electricity cancelled
A storm is brewing in Germany as people notice something missing from Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil's (SPD) budget announcement.
Less than eight weeks ago, the conservative CDU and the centre-left SPD signed a coalition agreement in which they announced they would make energy more affordable by permanently reducing the burden on businesses and consumers by “at least five cents per kilowatt hour.”
Accordong to the agreement, the first two cents would benefit electricity customers as an “immediate measure”.
The expected tax cut did not make it into Klingbeil's draft budget for the current year, however, and people across the political spectrum are furious.
“The coalition had announced relief for everyone with the reduction in electricity tax. Now it wants nothing more to do with it. This is a dangerous breach of promise,” said Mona Neubaur, the Green Party minister for economic affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia.Â
Klingbeil is also receiving heat from his coalition partners in the CDU. Carsten Linnemann, CDU Secretary General, has been quoted widely in the press: “It (the electricity tax) was intended as compensation for the CO₂ price. It is urgently needed, especially in view of (winning) acceptance for the energy transition.”
Federal funding secured for Digital Pact 2.0 for Schools
According to Federal Education Minister Karin Prien, federal funding for the Digital Pact 2.0 for schools has been secured.
The Digital Pact is designed to improve access to digital equipment in schools across Germany. Speaking at the education ministers' conference in Klütz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Prien said that €2.5 billion from the special infrastructure fund would be available during the current legislative period and potentially as early as 2026..
According to current plans, this will be in addition to a further €4 billion earmarked for education.Â
Germany's Merz joins EU migration hawks meet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took part in a meeting of EU immigration hawks in Brussels Thursday, participants confirmed, in a sign of Berlin's hardening stance on migration.
It marked the first time a German leader has attended the gathering, which has become a stable fixture on the sidelines of EU summits of the bloc's leaders over the past year.
"We're delighted that Germany is on board for the first time," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said ahead of the meeting he described as a "pressure group" pushing to make the European Union's migration policy "much stricter".
Co-organised by Italy, Denmark and The Netherlands, the migration talks were attended by more than a dozen of the bloc's 27 leaders as well as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Crystallising the growing influence of the hard right within the bloc, it has served as a platform for hardliners to push the commission to pass new rules to reduce arrivals and boost deportations.
Germany's conservative-led government, which took power in May, has pursued a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
With reporting by DPA and AFP
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