federal government
Meeting on issues: coalition leaders continue to advise
Want to get the issues out of the way: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (centre), Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (right) and Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
The heads of the traffic light coalition have been deliberating in the Chancellery for more than twelve hours. No white smoke has risen yet. A number of conflicts are to be cleared up.
Hours of negotiations in the Chancellery: The leaders of the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP continued to discuss tomorrow in the Chancellery. According to information from the German Press Agency, talks about a number of conflict issues are still ongoing. They had started on Sunday evening. A long session well into the night had already been expected in advance.
At the meeting, the coalition partners want to find solutions to a long list of controversial issues. These include, for example, a faster expansion of motorways, the controversial plans to replace oil and gas heating systems and the financing of basic child security.
The FDP budget politician Otto Fricke said on Deutschlandfunk in the morning that for him the long negotiations were more of a sign that efforts were being made to find solutions through compromises.
Against the background of the ongoing coalition talks, the FDP canceled its presidium meeting and today’s press conference – they were originally planned for 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. respectively.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us”
The First Parliamentary Secretary of the Greens, Irene Mihalic, said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”: “We have a lot of tasks ahead of us that we have to deal with urgently, especially in the area of the climate crisis.” A lot has already been achieved in the expansion of renewable energies, but now we also have to look at other areas. She mentioned heating in the building sector and transport.
Mihalic addressed the proposal for a gradual replacement of the heating system by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD). “Of course, these are also important points that need to be discussed intensively. And if the price is a night session, then please. But the main thing is that we are really struggling to find solutions.” She defended the plans, which envisage the installation of new heating systems from 2024, each of which will be operated with at least 65 percent renewable energy. This is necessary to ensure predictability.
Vice Chancellor Habeck even complained about a breach of trust
In the past few weeks, the tone in the coalition had become much rougher. Vice-Chancellor Habeck had even complained about a breach of trust because a bill to replace oil and gas heating systems from his house had been pushed through to the media. CDU leader Friedrich Merz called the ban on new oil and gas heating systems planned for 2024 a mistake in the ARD program “Report from Berlin” on Sunday. He accused the coalition of relying too heavily on bans and paternalism when it came to climate protection.
Before the coalition committee, FDP politicians repeatedly urged discipline when spending money – especially with a view to the federal budget for 2024 that is now pending.