Gas price cap: Prof. Veronika Grimm advises German government
Prof. Veronika Grimm is one of the chairpersons of the Committee for Gas and Heating
Many private households and companies are facing major, or even existential, challenges due to the rocketing prices for fossil fuels. The German government has established an independent committee of experts to analyze the situation and propose counter measures. The “Kommission Erdgas und Wärme” (Gas and Heating Committee) is an independent committee made up of experts from industry, trade unions, academia and non-governmental organizations.
The committee is chaired jointly by energy expert Prof. Dr. Veronika Grimm (Chair of Economic Theory/ German Council of Economic Experts, Prof. Dr. Siegfried Russwurm (Federation of German Industries / CxO Council at FAU) and Michael Vassiliadis (trade union for mining, chemistry and energy).
Committee’s tasks
- Assessing to what extent the rising gas prices caused by the cessation of gas deliveries from Russia will be an additional and unreasonable burden for companies and private households, in particular from fall 2022 until spring 2024.
- Assessing options for minimizing price increases at a national level. The experts will consider specific proposals, such as introducing a basic contingent with a reduced basic tariff, and the impact this would have on alleviating the situation as well as other knock-on effects it would have on the European single market. Measures for lowering demand and increasing supply may also be considered.
- Assessing options for minimizing price increases at the European level, taking the development of prices on world markets into consideration. The experts will consider specific proposals raised within Europe, taking into account the impact these would have on alleviating the situation and any other effects they may have.
- Drawing up specific options for action for the German government. The experts will draw up a mechanism for each of the options that will bring significant relief and act as an effective incentive at the same time as being straightforward, feasible and quick to realize (legally, technically and from a time point of view).
- The experts are to present their results to the general public by the end of October.
More information on the topic is available on the informative website www.gas-kommission.de and in various press articles such as on the ZDF or in the FAZ.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Veronika Grimm
Chair of Economic Theory
+49 911 5302 95224
veronika.grimm@fau.de
Referat für Kommunikation und Marketing
Fachbereich Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften
Silke Sauer
silke.sauer@fau.de