In negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the premiers rejected the proposal by environment minister Peter Altmaier and economics minister Philipp Rösler.
Without the support ofthe states, the plan will go nowhere, as the opposition Social Democrats andGreens, which control the Bundesrat (the upper house representingthe states), could block the legislation even if it passes in the lower house, the Bundestag.
Top politicians fromthe federal and state governments only agreed to take off the table a proposal for an additional 1.5%
