Can libraries play a role in supporting crisis-stricken Berliners? To do this, they must remain open and warm.
Photo: dpa/Gregor Fischer
“The public sector needs money,” said Steffen Zillich, parliamentary manager and budget spokesman for the left-wing faction in the Berlin House of Representatives on Monday evening. The sentence may have general validity, but this evening it is expressed with particular urgency in view of inflation and skyrocketing electricity and heating costs.
“There is not only a need for social compensation because people’s living conditions are threatened, but also a considerable need for investment in order to be able to cushion the consequences of the crisis,” Zillich continues. Where is the money supposed to come from? For this reason, the left-wing faction is discussing the possibility of levying an excess profit tax for electricity, gas and oil companies from a Berlin perspective.
“The excess profit tax is not an invention of cranks and communists, but was made in war and post-war times by countries like England, France and the USA,” explains Finance Senator Daniel Wesener (Greens), who is taking part in the left-wing faction’s event. It is already being implemented in other European countries such as Italy, says Wesener. He regrets that the joint Federal Council initiative from Bremen and Berlin in June did not find a majority on the subject. Instead, pressure is now coming from the European Union: The EU Commission has proposed the regulation of an excess profit tax, which would then be legally binding for the EU member states. “On Friday, the energy ministers of the Union will meet and I could imagine that the EU Commission will try to convert this proposal into joint action,” said Finance Senator Wesener.
The EU Commission’s proposal envisages both a price cap for electricity prices and an excess profit tax, reports Christoph Trautvetter from the Tax Justice Network. In July, as part of a Rosa Luxemburg Foundation project, he published the study “Taxing war profits. A Contribution to the Debate on Excess Taxes«. Trautvetter is certain that decisions must now be made quickly. “The corporations have already sold at the significantly higher prices, and this price will only reach consumers from autumn,” says Trautvetter. A taxation of excess profits would have to be decided this year so that the corresponding profits from the current year can still be taxed at all. Next year that would no longer be possible.
For Berlin, the introduction of an excess profit tax would mean that relief for the people who have the lowest income and are most affected by skyrocketing prices can be better financed. At the discussion event, Left Social Senator Katja Kipping will present part of the relief package with which the state wants to supplement the federal measures. It is entitled »Network of Warmth«. As part of this, »meeting places« such as district centres, socially oriented companies, cultural places and clubs in the city have joined forces. It’s about not only sharing physical but also interpersonal warmth with city dwellers, says Kipping. “We want to strengthen social cohesion, but also make it easier for people who urgently need support to access possible help,” says Kipping.
The network is to be expanded, for example to include municipal libraries. It is currently not possible to deploy social counselors in each of these places. Kipping regrets that the skilled workers required for this are not available. But digital access and information about where people can get help and advice should still ensure that people are not left to their own devices, the social senator continued.
“As part of the relief package, we naturally also want to strengthen the meeting places themselves,” explains Kipping, promising financial support for independent organizations, initiatives, centers and projects so that they too can survive the crisis and take on the task of solidarity with one another to get through the winter. According to Kipping, the next steps of the social administration, which is responsible for the project, should be to advertise the corresponding places, to acquire new places and to design a digital map.
The Berlin relief package also provides for further measures. The coalition has already agreed on the content, now the individual measures must be implemented step by step. “It is not yet possible to say in general terms when all this will happen,” said Finance Senator Wesener to “nd”. In addition to the monthly ticket for public transport that has already been decided, a hardship fund, support for the public infrastructure and a moratorium on termination for tenants are planned.
