Minister of Economics as a guest at “RND on site” on Friday

keel. The man who is currently being bombarded with so much is relaxed and self-confident. He’s not afraid, says Robert Habeck. Not a single question. It is Friday evening and the Federal Minister of Economics is a guest in Kiel, where the editorial network Germany and the “Kieler Nachrichten” have invited him and 150 readers to the talk series “RND on site”.

The evening in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital is something of a home game for the Green politician, who was Minister of Agriculture here for many years and lives in Flensburg. Again and again alludes to his years in Kiel – even if he is at home on much larger stages today.

RND editor-in-chief Eva Quadbeck welcomes Habeck as the minister “who is on fire like no other in the Scholz cabinet”. And of course, right from the start, it’s about the most burning political issue of the past few days and weeks: Habeck’s planned heating law, which has caused so much trouble inside and outside the coalition.

Habeck is willing to compromise on the subject. “Transition periods can be negotiated, social cushions can be increased,” he said. “The Bundestag will certainly do something with its wisdom.” The core of the Building Energy Act, the extensive ban on installing new oil and gas heating systems, is non-negotiable. “That is the core of the law, it cannot be destroyed,” says Habeck. “We don’t need it without it.”

Exceptions to the heating law for pensioners? He doesn’t want to

The editor-in-chief of the “Kieler Nachrichten”, Stefanie Gollasch, wants to know whether he can imagine additional exceptions to the ban on installing fossil fuel heating systems. So far, recipients of social transfers and seniors over 80 have been spared, the SPD is calling for this exception to be extended to all pensioners. “I don’t think that’s right,” said Habeck. “We shouldn’t make too big a time exception.”

Habeck stresses that he is confident that he will be able to get the entire package of laws passed in the coalition through parliament before the summer break. “I firmly believe that the agreement is in place.”

He is more cautious about another contentious issue at the traffic light, the debate about introducing a cap on electricity prices for industry. “The whole economy is currently talking intensively about an industrial electricity price, and I think we have to do it,” he says. However, he only hints at the dispute with Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) about the financing. It needs “agreement in the federal government”.

Habeck has noticed that his climate policy leads to uncertainty and anger among many people in the country. A small protest group has also gathered in front of the venue, the Schwedenkai in Kiel. That has been with him for years, says Habeck. “Something like that is part of it.”

Better climate glue than highway racers

Especially since there are also protesters from the other side – who are quite a bit closer to Habeck. “Basically, I admire the young people for their courage – all of them,” he says, referring to Fridays for Future and Last Generation. The seriousness of the radical climate activists impressed him more than great indifference. According to the motto: “I don’t care, I’m shooting on the Autobahn and if the car makes 20 liters, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that I’m there quickly or I have the biggest car,” says Habeck. “Then I’d rather choose the others.”

Nevertheless, he looks with concern at radical climate protests. It was a historically great achievement by Fridays for Future to “get a social majority for climate protection,” he says. The current radicalization does not create the majority. Habeck appealed: “Find forms of protest that create majorities for your concerns and do not retreat into a niche where you are only capable of winning a majority among those of your own kind.”

Habeck says he can live with the sometimes campaign-like criticism from parts of the media industry. However, he sharply criticizes the text messages made recently by Springer boss Mathias Döpfner. According to Habeck, Döpfner said “very ugly things” about Muslims and East Germans. “I don’t think that’s appropriate.” According to Habeck, it is problematic to ascribe political attitudes to certain population groups because one believes that ethnic groups, religious affiliations or rural structures shape people. “Then the country will fall apart into nothing but individual components.”

“Family Affairs” in the Ministry of Economic Affairs

On this evening, Habeck was unusually open in admitting that things don’t always run smoothly in the Ministry of Economic Affairs either. “There was a mistake. The mouse won’t bite a thread,” he says, referring to State Secretary Patrick Graichen, who has come under pressure because of his personal ties when filling a top position. That’s not a nice situation. But: “In my opinion, Patrick Graichen is the man who saved Germany from a serious energy crisis.” He brought the coal-fired power plants to the grid, let the nuclear power plants run longer and brought the LNG storage facilities back into a legal norm. Now Graichen is paying a “high public price” for his mistake.

The currently poor poll numbers of the Greens, on the other hand, are not giving Habeck any sleepless nights. “We have a great opportunity to prove ourselves in the crisis.” A lot could still happen before the federal elections in two and a half years. But: “If an answer was given to all questions, then maybe we’ll fight for one again.”

When asked whether he or Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock would then accept the chancellor candidacy, he said: “Anything can happen. The last thing that happens is that we decide this question.”

The audience in Kiel laughed, just like when asked who actually gave him the most gray hair in the first traffic light years, Christian Lindner, Volker Wissing or Annalena Baerbock? Habeck pauses for a moment, then he grins – and gives the answer very briefly: “Annalena not.”