The report notes that financial assistance and tax concessions provided by the German federal government are set to rise from 21.8 billion euros in 2017 to 31.4 billion euros in 2020.

Special note should be made here of financial assistance, which has increased by about 8.1 billion euros to 14.4 billion euros. But tax concessions are also on the rise, from 1.3 billion euros to 16.9 billion euros.

Special assistance for climate action measures

The majority of subsidies accorded as financial assistance serve to realise one of the German government’s core concerns – climate action.

The rise in financial assistance is accounted for primarily by additional Energy and Climate Fund measures, launched by the German government within the framework of the climate action package. In 2020 more than half of the volume of financial assistance will be earmarked for climate and environmental measures.

Housing construction, digitalisation and mobility

Alongside climate action, other priorities include housing construction, digitalisation and mobility. The most important financial assistance includes subsidies granted within the scope of the new programme to help families with children buy homes, as well as supporting the development of gigabit networks and reducing track access charges for rail freight.