Scholz cabinet

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Scholz government passed a gas rationing law, under the leadership of economy minister Robert Habeck (Greens).[12] In August 2022, a major expansion of the BAföG system of government grants and loans for students and trainees was introduced, fulfilling a key FDP government program plank.[13] The largest housing benefits reform since 1965 will come into effect on January 1, 2023, with the number of households entitled to receive the benefits increasing from 600,000 in 2022 to over 2 million in 2023, and the allowances for heating and cooling more than doubling. [14] The Traffic Light coalition also agreed on a major 200 billion Euro energy relief package in October 2022, to come into effect starting in January 2023 and running through mid-2024.[15] The government announced a gas price capping scheme called Gaspreisbremse for 2023.[16]

In October 2022, the minimum wage was increased to 12 Euros per hour, fulfilling a key SPD election campaign promise. [17] The Scholz government proposed a reform of unemployment payments, moving Germany from Hartz IV to a so-called Bürgergeld system.[18]

In its first year, the Scholz government introduced the 9-Euro-Ticket in summer 2022. The transport ministry, led by Volker Wissing (Free Democrats), failed to prepare an adequate plan to meet emissions reduction targets in the transport sector in summer 2022.[19] However, in October 2022, the federal government and the states agreed to implement a nationwide 49 Euro per month public transport ticket, which will apply to all local and regional transit across the country and eliminate the previous maze of tariff zones starting in 2023. [20]

Under health minister and medical professor Karl Lauterbach (Social Democrats), the vaccination ratio stagnated at 75% (as of August 2022).[21]

In June 2022, the SPD, Greens, FDP, and Die Linke voted to repeal Paragraph Section 219a of the Criminal Code ("Strafgesetzbuch"), which outlawed the so-called "advertisement" of abortion services (a legal term). The paragraph had prohibited doctors from specifying online which kinds of abortion services they provide, and under what circumstances.[22]

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Traffic Light coalition joined with the opposition CDU/CSU to pass a special 100 billion Euro package to finance a re-arming of the Bundeswehr, marking a radical break with the foreign policy of the past 70 years. The funds are to be used to purchase new fighter jets (including the F-35), armed drones, boats, submarines, combat vehicles, and personal equipment. 41 billion Euros are earmarked for the airforce, 19 billion for the navy, 17 billion for the ground forces, and 21 billion across all branches of the military for new communication technology and to counter the threat of cyberattacks.[23]

Agriculture minister Cem Özdemir proposed a mandatory Animal Husbandry Label for animal products that are produced in Germany and also destined for sale in Germany.[24]