(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s conservatives are ready to abolish a contentious levy charged on natural gas supplies in storage, breaking a week-long political standstill over the fee that had raised alarm among European neighbors.
“This is a law that we can support,” said Friedrich Merz, the chairman of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance in Berlin, speaking after the nation’s parliament had cleared the way for new elections. The fee, which the government introduced at the peak of Europe’s energy crisis in 2022 to help fill domestic gas storage facilities, had also been levied at border-crossing points and was sharply criticized by central European countries as it made it more expensive for them to obtain the fuel.
The draft plan from the economy ministry to abolish the levy had been in limbo for weeks after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ three-party coalition collapsed. Last month, natural-gas market manager Trading Hub Europe announced it would have to increase the fee next year if the law wasn’t passed.
The levy, paid to THE, is used to cover the costs of refilling storage sites. It’s paid by traders or utilities for deliveries through Germany, and has been heavily criticized as it raises the cost of obtaining liquefied natural gas for countries such as Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Prior to Monday’s meeting of the European Union energy council, the delegations of the three countries had again appealed to Germany to quickly abolish the levy.
The conservative two-party group had blocked any cooperation with the remainder of the government, but changed their position after the parliament paved the way for the nation’s snap elections on Feb. 23. Earlier in the day, Scholz had lost a confidence vote, clearing the path for a dissolution of the Bundestag.
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