The DSLV Federal Association for Freight Forwarding and Logistics has called on the federal government to include the logistics industry in the planned electricity tax relief. The background is the decision of the coalition committee on July 2, 2025, to refrain from a general reduction of the electricity tax. Instead, starting next year, only the manufacturing sector and agriculture and forestry will permanently benefit from the reduced tax rate. Service sectors like logistics are excluded from this measure.
Thus, the federal government's reasoning that the relief should apply regardless of company size or electricity intensity falls short in
practice, according to the DSLV. While the electricity tax is being reduced to the European minimum for certain industries, other sectors with high energy needs, however, do not benefit. According to the Freight Forwarding Association, this particularly affects logistics companies that need to secure cold chains for food or medicines and thus also have high electricity consumption.
"The non-industrial medium-sized sector, including numerous logistics companies, is also struggling with excessively high energy costs," the statement said. Many of these companies are in direct competition with providers from other European countries, where electricity costs are sometimes significantly lower.
The
federal government, in a statement dated June 26, 2025, points out that, in addition to the continued electricity tax concession for certain industries, the gas storage levy will be abolished, and part of the transmission grid fees will be taken over. According to the government, these measures should reduce electricity prices by two to three cents per kilowatt hour from January 2026.
A nationwide reduction in electricity tax, as planned in the coalition agreement, has been postponed for budgetary reasons. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, such a measure would cost the state around 5.4 billion euros
annually. The federal government has promised further relief steps as soon as there is financial leeway.
The DSLV is not satisfied with this. In view of the ongoing electrification of commercial vehicle fleets, the logistics industry is increasingly seen as energy-intensive. Therefore, General Manager Frank Huster demands:
"In view of this, system-relevant service industries must also be included in political decisions for a competitive electricity price."
The association urges the federal government to fulfill the promise made in the coalition agreement and to lower the electricity tax across the board—or at least to extend it to energy-intensive logistics
