[ad_1]
Energy industry association BDEW said the package will support energy-intensive companies and contribute to Germany’s competitiveness as a business location. The lobby group welcomed the fact that the government did not set a regulated electricity price: “We need price signals from the market for investments in energy efficiency and renewables, but also for the transformation of industrial processes,” BDEW head Kerstin Andreae said.
“This is a victory for common sense,” said Marie-Christine Ostermann, head of the Family Business Association (Familienunternehmer), a lobby organisation for large family-owned corporations. “This is how government policy works for the benefit of the entire economy,” Ostermann added.
The trade union for mining, chemicals and energy industries (IGBCE) also welcomed the package and said it was an important first step, but argued that the measures are not enough to achieve a sustainable reduction in electricity prices for companies facing international competition. “In the view of the IGBCE, further specific measures, possibly targeted at affected companies, are necessary to achieve this,” said the union’s head, Michael Vassiliadis.
The chemicals industry association VCI echoed the feeling, saying the package “only solves a small part of the acute problems facing our industry” and does not provide additional relief to improve international competitiveness.
NGO Greenpeace was more critical of the proposal, saying the measures undermine incentives to reduce energy consumption and emissions. “In order to drive forward the climate-friendly restructuring of the economy, [the government] should provide targeted support to companies switching to energy-efficient production processes with renewable energies,” energy expert at Greenpeace Bastian Neuwirth said.
[ad_2]
Source link