Coalition committee: Merz praises good cooperation, electricity tax remains!

Coalition committee: Merz praises good cooperation, electricity tax remains!

On July 3, 2025, a decisive coalition committee between the Union and the SPD took place, in which the top of the two parties exchanged various political issues. In a meeting that lasted over five hours, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation between the coalition partners. Merz emphasized that despite some critical voices, the coalition worked well and there was a "very good atmosphere" during the consultations. He emphasized that the coalition has been in office for a good eight weeks and continues to hope for constructive cooperation. However, specific results were not discussed in detail, which did not fulfill the expectations of the public. [Schwäbische Post] (https://www.schwaebische-post.de/welt/politik/Merz-zu-zu--gute-gute-gute-gute- atmosphaere-zr-93815071.html) reports that the Union and the SPD have decided against the expansion of the planned electricity tax cutting to private consumers and all companies, which due to a lack of financial resources justified was.

A central topic of the session was the discussion about electricity tax. In the coalition agreement, a reduction in electricity tax was provided for by at least five cents per kWh for everyone, but no agreement for consumers could not reach an agreement. Union faction leader Jens Spahn pointed out that the decisions could bring savings from the reduction of network charges. [Merkur] (https://www.merkur.de/politik/die-fuesse-koalitions Committee-heute-fahren-kerz-die-zr-zr-zr-93813149.html) has reported that the decision on electricity tax also results from household constraints that emphasize both Federal Chancellor Merz and Federal Finance Minister Lars Klassbeil (SPD). A complete reduction in electricity tax for everyone would burden the household at around 5.4 billion euros, which is not portable.

mother's pension and other topics

A positive result could be achieved in relation to the extended mother's pension: This is now to start on January 1, 2027, a year earlier than originally planned. This decision was regarded as a step in the right direction, despite the inconsistencies regarding electricity tax. Markus Söder (CSU) also called for compliance with the coalition agreement and spoke out for a comprehensive reduction in electricity tax.

The consultations also included important topics such as pension stability and possible reforms in the field of social protection. The discussion about savings in the citizen benefit, which was addressed by SPD general secretary Tim Klüssendorf, was supported. However, there was also criticism of the occupation of the coalition committee, since only Bärbel Bas is represented as a female member. The continued issues show that despite the good atmosphere there is still a lot of constructive work in front of the coalition.