In the dispute over the heating law, the Liberals are proposing a new timetable: it would be enough if the draft was passed in October. Today, the controversial law is a topic in the Bundestag – but differently than originally planned.
According to the FDP, the heating law by Federal Minister of Economics Habeck can take effect next year despite the delay in the Bundestag. “In order for the law to come into force in 2024, it is enough if we pass it in October,” MP Reinhard Houben told the editorial network Germany. “The climate change will not fail if the law is not passed before the summer break.”
Strack-Zimmermann: “This is not a due date!”
Similarly expressed Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, member of the FDP national board, in an interview with the daily topics. It is not good “to get a law on the road no matter what and to fix it on a date”. That was “not a due date,” said Strack-Zimmermann. Regarding the political dispute within the government, she added: “It’s good if we shut it down and discuss the matter.” You can see that some are angry. But it’s not about “who is sitting in a ditch”. According to Strack-Zimmermann, the heating law will not be passed before the summer break.
Mützenich wants to de-escalate
SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich also tried to contain the dispute within the coalition. Habeck’s accusation that the FDP “broke their word” because of the delays in the heating law, he doesn’t want to make his own. “I wouldn’t see it as a breach of word, but in the end it depends on whether we pass the law in the German Bundestag,” he said on ZDF.
Habeck had referred to the agreement that representatives of the SPD, Greens and FDP had reached in the coalition committee at the end of March. “It clearly says: We want this process to be completed before the parliamentary summer break. That will no longer be possible with the postponement,” said Habeck. He takes note that the FDP does not keep to the word given. Mützenich, on the other hand, was confident: in the end, the coalition would bring together a good law.
SPD wants to continue passing the law until the summer break
And the SPD is confident that this can still happen before the parliamentary summer recess. With a “constructive basic attitude” of the traffic light partners, this can be achieved, said the parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast, in the Deutschlandfunk. Until then, there are still a good six weeks left for proper parliamentary deliberation. One shouldn’t leave people in the dark for too long, warned Mast.
Current hour on the heating law in the Bundestag
One thing is clear: the heating law will no longer be discussed in the Bundestag this week because of the negative attitude of the FDP. But it is still an issue there today: The Union faction has requested a current hour for the controversial draft law. The debate is “urgently necessary,” said the CDU and CSU, who firmly reject Habeck’s plans.