“The package is of course valid”
Esken insists on compliance with coalition compromises
May 27, 2023 at 8:22 am
The mood in the traffic light coalition has also been better. Not only the internal debate about the heating law is causing tension. SPD leader Esken is trying to smooth things over.
Despite the dispute between the traffic light partners about the heating law, the SPD insists on compliance with the other coalition compromises. The coalition committee had negotiated for many hours about the amendment to the climate protection law, planning and approval acceleration and also the building energy law and had come to a result “that we were able to support together,” said SPD leader Saskia Esken of the German Press Agency. “The package is of course valid, we agreed that together,” she emphasized.
The Greens had recently questioned the blockade of the FDP. Part of the agreement of March 28 was that the law for the gradual replacement of climate-damaging oil and gas heating systems should be passed in the Bundestag by the summer break on July 7. However, the FDP now says that the point in time is less important, that a good law is important.
Green parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann therefore threatened that if the FDP did not comply with the agreement, the Greens would not see themselves bound by the other resolutions either. “And that’s why I regret that the planning acceleration law for the entire transport sector, which we believe is important, cannot now be launched,” she said. This project promoted by the FDP includes, among other things, the faster expansion of certain motorways.
Esken appealed to the coalition partners to show a constructive attitude and objective communication. It is “of course not particularly helpful” if the Greens now accuse the FDP of behaving like an opposition with ministerial posts. “I am convinced that we can come together again on all the issues,” emphasized Esken. “You shouldn’t overestimate things. It’s just an interaction of different forces with different ideas and interests.”
Planning security important
The SPD continues to press for a decision before the summer break. “There are subsidies for certain measures that people are now waiting for,” said Esken. “Material has to be ordered, the craftsman has to be commissioned, and you don’t do that two months in advance. For the planning security of those who are now building or planning a renovation, it is important that we now complete the law quickly.” She remains confident that this will work.
The law stipulates that from next year every newly installed heating system must be operated with at least 65 percent green energy. Alternatively, it is also possible to switch to climate-neutral heat from a heating network such as district heating. Existing oil and gas heating systems can continue to be operated and broken ones can be repaired. The changeover should be socially cushioned, and there should also be transitional periods and hardship regulations – the details of this, however, are controversial. The law is considered an important component of the plan to make Germany climate-neutral by 2045.
The Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck has already announced a revision of the draft. It is being considered, for example, that it will initially only apply to new buildings. In existing buildings, he wanted to accommodate the desire for more time, there the challenges are greater, Habeck told the newspapers of the Funke media group.