Innovations & laws: This will change from June 2022

Fuel prices are lowered and Deutsche Bahn is offering a 9-euro ticket
Amendment of the Drug Warnings Ordinance for ethanol-containing drugs
Vaccination certificate of non-boosted air

Fuel prices and 9-euro ticket

Fuel prices have risen significantly since the beginning of the Ukraine war. That’s why refueling should be cheaper again from June 1st. On March 23, the coalition committee decided to reduce the energy tax on fuel for a limited period of three months. The Federal Ministry of Finance explains that all fuels available at filling stations will be reduced as far as possible under European law. The price of petrol will be reduced the most, by 29.55 cents per liter. The price of diesel will fall second the most, at 14.04 cents per liter, followed by the price of liquid gas (12.66 cents per liter) and the price of natural gas (6.16 cents per liter). The price reductions are intended to reduce the financial burden on citizens and the economy, especially trade and the logistics sector, while trying to make Germany independent of Russian oil.

Also limited to three months from June 1st is Deutsche Bahn’s offer for a “9-euro ticket”. With this ticket, citizens should be able to use local public transport throughout Germany for a whole month for just nine euros. According to Deutsche Bahn, ticket sales started on May 23, 2022. With this ticket, all means of public transport, including RB, RE, U-Bahn, S-Bahn, bus and tram, are accessible without restriction for the selected month.

Legislative change for ethanol-containing medicines

In addition, as of June 1st, pharmacies will be subject to changes in the law. On April 12, the Federal Law Gazette published an “Ordinance to amend the Drug Warnings Ordinance.” The main issue here is the obligation to declare ethanol-containing formulations. According to 2 and 3 AMWarnV, only formulations for internal use with the warnings “With 0.05 g to 0.5 g ethanol in the maximum single dose: Contains alcohol by volume” and “In the case of More than 0.5 g ethanol in the maximum single dose: Contains alcohol % by volume; read the package leaflet!” be provided. From June 1st, however, all medicines containing ethanol must indicate the amount of ethanol contained in each individual dose in “% by volume”. Drugs for which this information is not yet available and which are still in the pharmacies’ stocks may still be sold until June 30, 2023. This is intended to avoid losses for the pharmacies.

Vaccination certificate expires

As Praxis VITA explains, from June 14 there could also be problems for those who have not been boosted, because many vaccination certificates expire at this time. The reason for this is that the digital versions of the vaccination certificate issued in pharmacies on June 14, 2021 are only valid for one year. However, citizens who use the Corona-Warn-App or the CoV-Pass-App should be warned in good time (28 days in advance) before the vaccination certificates expire. Those affected can then have a new certificate issued by the pharmacies. In addition, it should be possible in the near future for the Corona-Warn-App and the CoV-Pass-App to update automatically. For those who have been boosted, the vaccination certificate is still valid indefinitely.

E. Schmal / Editor finanzen.net

Image sources: Romolo Tavani/iStock, ER_09 / Shutterstock.com

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