The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP has achieved a breakthrough in the heating law. At a meeting of the deputy group leaders, according to information from Süddeutsche Zeitung open points clarified. Details are unclear so far. So far, the traffic light partners had only agreed on rough “guard rails” for changing the original draft law.
An SPD spokesman confirmed the agreement. The Economics Ministry led by the Greens and the SPD-led Building Ministry have now been asked to adapt the texts so that all parliamentary groups will receive them in good time before the further expert hearing. More should follow on Thursday.
The traffic light wants the building energy law – the so-called heating law – to be passed by the Bundestag before the summer recess of parliament, which begins on July 8th. He was “actually optimistic” that this schedule could be met, said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) on Tuesday afternoon at the SZ sustainability summit in Munich. The law will “hopefully” be passed in the coming week.
FDP leader Christian Lindner praised the coalition leadership’s decision: it was going in “absolutely the right direction”. Among other things, a viable agreement was reached in the area of funding. “The project can only benefit from this.” Lindner now sees good chances that the Bundestag will quickly approve the heating law. If the parliamentary groups agree to the agreement that has now been reached, he no longer sees any insurmountable hurdles, said Lindner on Tuesday. His party supports this.
“A lot has happened in the last three or four weeks,” said Habeck, the coalition partners had moved towards each other. At the beginning of May it was not clear whether an agreement would be reached at all. In this context, Habeck spoke of a “complete confrontation and hardening” that has now been overcome.
In mid-June, after tough negotiations, a top group of SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on changes – so-called “guard rails” – to the draft law passed by the cabinet. In essence, these “guard rails” provide many homeowners with more time when replacing the heating system.
The Building Energy Act is to be linked to a law on municipal heating planning. The principle should apply: First, there must be a municipal heating plan. Otherwise, owners will not have all the information they need to choose the most economical heating option for them. Among other things, municipal heat planning should enable homeowners to find out whether they can connect their house to a district or local heating network. The state must first deliver, emphasized the FDP in particular. Mandatory municipal heating planning is aimed for by 2028 at the latest.
According to the draft law, no functioning oil and gas heating systems should have to be replaced
The FDP had previously called for fundamental improvements and insisted on openness to technology. However, many points were still open – such as the question of what the planned state subsidy looks like and how the exception rules for heating replacement will be designed exactly.
According to the “guard rails”, there should also be another modernization levy that landlords can use to pass costs on to tenants. Details were still open. So far, it has also been unclear what happens if someone now installs a gas heating system that can generally be converted to hydrogen, but their municipality later does not plan a suitable network at all. The coalition leaders had only stipulated that “reasonable transitional periods for switching to the new technology” should then apply.
The draft law passed by the cabinet originally stipulated that from 2024 every newly installed heating system should be operated with at least 65 percent green energy. This is intended to decisively advance the heat transition in the building sector so that Germany can achieve its climate goals. According to the draft law, however, no functioning oil and gas heating systems have to be replaced, and defective heating systems should also be allowed to be repaired.