German Chancellor Merz open to more energy price reduction measures

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is open to further measures against rising energy and petrol prices as a result of the Iran war, he said on Wednesday.

An initial package of measures, including the fixing of prices at petrol stations, could be passed this week in the Bundestag and Bundesrat, the chancellor said during parliamentary questioning of the government.

However, this would “not be enough to curb prices in such a way that they become acceptable for consumers again,” he said.

Further measures are therefore conceivable, but Merz was sceptical about some that had been suggested. “An excess profits tax seems to me to cause considerable tax law problems simply because of the definition of excess profits. But I am open to any discussion,” he said.

His government “cannot compensate for every price development with tax measures or measures from the federal budget. The best way to bring prices back under control is to end the war in Iran,” Merz said.

The German government was doing everything it could to achieve this goal as quickly as possible, he added.