“We need a price cap for electricity prices,” she said to several media. The government must now lead. “We need to close ranks in the coalition. And we need constructive cooperation in parliament instead of constant begging from the opposition.”
Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) recently spoke out against price caps in the National Council. Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) also expressed his negative opinion in the “Presse” (Sunday edition): “It’s a populist story to pretend that the state could cut prices with a razor blade. That usually goes backwards Come on.” But you can look at this at the European level. “Austria alone is having a hard time. We would subsidize an entire power zone from several countries and the effects for us would be small.”
EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn (ÖVP) had also rejected an electricity price cap in the Ö1-Mittagsjournal. “If low-income households are suffering from high energy prices, they should be given priority and direct help.”
Mikl-Leitner also called for “transparency in the emergency plans” in order to create trust and security. The government must finally disclose what the gas distribution looks like in an emergency.
Source: Nachrichten
