Two months after the federal election, the upcoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz, together with the leaders of the FDP and the Greens, presented the agreement of the traffic light coalition. There are especially surprises when it comes to the ministry cut. When it comes to climate protection, the traffic lights take on big things.
Olaf Scholz shines like the famous honey cake horse, Christian Lindner’s pride almost bursts out of his usual sleek suit and Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock are also in a good mood: The top representatives of the upcoming traffic light government in the federal government will be in the congress center in Berlin’s Westhafen in the afternoon to meet their to present the coalition agreement negotiated over the course of weeks in all discretion. “The traffic light is up” is the message from Olaf Scholz, who has cleared the biggest hurdle since the SPD’s victory in the Bundestag elections in order to actually become Federal Chancellor in two weeks’ time.
The comprehensive plans of the three parties in the federal government are recorded on just over 170 pages. But before he announces their highlights, Scholz has to bring a no less important message to the people, namely that the time of self-employment of the coming government parties in the middle of the severe Corona crisis is over. “The situation is serious,” says Scholz, referring to the intensive care units that were operating at their limits. The upcoming head of government is therefore announcing five plans to cope with the fourth wave of pandemics. This includes the establishment of a permanent federal-state crisis team and a scientific expert group anchored in the Federal Chancellery, which monitors and evaluates the situation on a daily basis.
In addition, the upcoming federal government wants to advance vaccinations and booster vaccinations and give the nursing staff in clinics and old people’s homes recognition for their special burden with a one billion euro care bonus. The prospective Vice Chancellor Habeck and Lindner, who will become Vice Chancellor’s Vice Chancellor, do not forget to mention the drama of the Corona situation. “Limit your personal contacts this autumn and winter so that we can all preserve the freedom of society in these difficult times”, appeals Lindner. It’s a completely different sound than the one that the FDP struck in the summer of the election campaign, just like a Wolfgang Kubicki.
Intoxicated by myself
But now back to the actual sensation, at least from the point of view of the men and women on the podium: The traffic light coalitionists promise nothing less than a completely new policy: “We are united by the belief in progress and that politics can make a difference,” says Scholz and adds: “We are not concerned with a policy of the lowest common denominator, but rather with a policy of great impact.” The guiding principle of the traffic light government, explains the presumed new economic and climate protection minister Habeck, is “an active society, an investing state and a Germany that simply works”. There is a lot of talk about “eye level”, “trust” and that different views would not lead to blockades and mild compromises.
According to the heading of the coalition agreement, the traffic light has the motto “Dare to make more progress” and describes itself as an “Alliance for Freedom, Justice and Sustainability”. The headline is reminiscent of the election campaign slogan of the SPD icon Willy Brandt. The keywords freedom (FDP), justice (SPD) and sustainability (Greens) reflect the main issues of the parties involved. One can assume that such questions of self-portrayal were negotiated for a long time when Lindner says: “We sometimes struggled for hours about individual sentences.”
The pride that can be seen from every syllable of the speakers – in addition to Baerbock, Habeck, Lindner and Scholz, also speak the SPD chairmen Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans – and the conviction that everything can be done so much better than the outgoing federal government is on to a large extent due to the course of the exploratory talks and coalition negotiations. “The conversations were very discreet, exceptionally discreet for the political culture of our country in recent years”, Lindner praised everyone involved. “During these days and weeks we have negotiated intensively or passionately, but trustingly,” says Scholz.
The yellow carpet for Chancellor Scholz
Habeck speaks of “pretty exhausting” negotiations. The coalition agreement, however, is “a document of courage and confidence”. Lindner, whom his party executive wants for the post of Federal Minister of Finance, which has been assigned to the FDP, rolls out the yellow carpet for the upcoming Chancellor: “We got to know Olaf Scholz again during the negotiations.” He is a “strong leader” with a “clear stance” and will be “a strong Federal Chancellor”. He also makes life within the party a little easier for the Greens when he says: “No industrialized nation will make greater efforts to protect the climate.” The coming government is going to the limits of what is physically and technically possible.
In fact, some of the indicators look ambitious at first glance: The share of renewable energies in electricity production is to increase to 80 percent by 2030 (2020: 45 percent), and 50 percent of heat is to be produced in a climate-neutral manner by then (2020: 15 percent). If necessary, the C02 price for fossil fuels should be artificially kept at at least 60 euros per ton, so that after 2030 coal-based power generation will no longer be profitable and the early phase-out of coal called for by the Greens will come. To this end, 15 million electric vehicles are to be on Germany’s roads by 2030 – fully electric vehicles or hybrids with more than 50 percent electricity.
“We are on the 1.5-degree path with this contract,” says Habeck. If the treaty were implemented in this way, Germany would emit 65 percent less CO2 than in the reference year 1990. That is well above the already ambitious target of the EU Commission of a reduction of 55 percent. The way is paved “for us as one of the largest industrial nations in the world to become climate-neutral,” says Baerbock. She expresses herself above all on foreign and European policy aspects of the coalition agreement.
FDP minister already clear
Everything points to the fact that the Greens’ candidate for chancellor will be foreign minister, but that Habeck will be the number one of the Greens in the federal government as Vice-Chancellor. He will be largely responsible for the implementation of the energy transition. In addition, the Greens occupy the Family Ministry, the Ministry of Nature Conservation and the subjects of food and agriculture.
The Ministry of Transport, which is so important for the success of the traffic turnaround, is surprisingly not going to the Greens, but to the FDP. Their future Transport Minister Volker Wissing will also be responsible for digitization, one of the liberal core issues. With the Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the FDP is occupying two more of its heartfelt issues.
A new ministry goes to the SPD, namely building and housing. Here, the traffic light not only wants to build 400,000 new apartments a year, as stated in the exploratory paper. Against the ideas of the FDP, the rent brake for new rentals is to be extended and rent increases in tight residential areas are to be limited to 11 instead of 15 percent within three years. The SPD also occupies the ministries for the interior, defense, health, labor and social affairs as well as economic cooperation and development. It is unclear who should fill these ministries. The previous SPD federal ministers Hubertus Heil, Christine Lambrecht and Svenja Schulze are considered hot candidates to continue to be responsible for a department. Scholz promised an “excellent occupation” of the SPD departments, which should go equally to men and women.