Status: 06.03.2023 1:06 p.m
According to the ministers, the closed meeting of the federal cabinet at Schloss Meseberg is making good progress. There are many issues that are difficult to deal with – such as the expansion of the motorways and the planned end of combustion engines.
In the past few weeks, things have often gotten heated in the traffic light coalition – sometimes also publicly. That seems to be different at the two-day conference in Meseberg Castle in Brandenburg. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is advising his federal cabinet behind closed doors. Despite all the differences of opinion, the ministers talked about constructive cooperation on the fringes of the closed conference.
He doesn’t have the impression that “we’re fighting like tinkers,” said Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir during the federal cabinet meeting in Meseberg Castle in Brandenburg.
Current points of contention in the coalition are the 2024 budget and the medium-term financial planning, in connection with the financing of the planned basic child security, the design of the planned planning acceleration for infrastructure projects, regulations for more climate-friendly heating systems and the resistance of the FDP to the end of new cars with combustion engines in the EU from 2035.
Budget – officially not on the Meseberg agenda
The cabinet retreat began yesterday and is scheduled to end in the afternoon. Finally, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other government representatives want to speak to the press. “The mood was good yesterday, collegial,” said Transport Minister Volker Wissing.
With regard to the budget dispute, the FDP politician said that there were talks between the specialist departments and the Ministry of Finance “which are also going well”. He considers this “a normal situation”. However, the budget preparation, which was actually planned by mid-March, is “a complicated political process,” Wissing admitted.
Özdemir pointed out that the budget dispute was not officially on the agenda at the cabinet meeting. “This is not an issue here, not an issue of controversy or an issue at all,” he said. Özdemir also referred to the ongoing talks in the specialist departments and “also at the top level about questions that are still open”.
“Constructive” also when it comes to the Autobahn
The members of the government are generally “in good talks,” assured Wissing. This also applies to the planning acceleration. While the Greens want to concentrate on environmentally friendly modes of transport such as rail and on necessary renovations, the FDP also demands the extensive expansion of the motorway network.
Ampelinternal criticism of his traffic planning as Wissing back. He could not reduce road construction if, for example, the number of parcels multiplied as a result of internet trade and changed consumer behavior. In addition, there are now six million more people living in Germany than was assumed in the traffic planning from 2010 to 2014. But there are also “constructive discussions” on this subject, said Wissing.
Struggle for the “heat transition”
Building Minister Klara Geywitz urged a change of course in residential heating for more climate protection. There have already been massive omissions in the past decade. Now the “heat transition” must be organized in order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2040, according to the SPD politician.
A proposal from Robert Habeck’s business department envisages that from 2024 new gas heating systems should only be permitted in connection with the use of renewable energies.
The FDP is opposed to this. Wissing spoke of a “struggling to find the right path from different perspectives”. However, he also conceded that there were already a great many open questions in the coalition and it would therefore be good “not to add any more open questions”.
pace of digitization
It’s not just about heating that’s making progress. Minister of Construction Geywitz, Minister of Transport Wissing and Minister of Agriculture Özdemir announced that they would quickly implement their plans to expand digitization. In 2023, the digital submission of building applications should be possible, and later their digital processing, said Geywitz. In Germany, construction planning takes too long, which drives up costs, she added. In addition, a digital building model should ensure in the future that you always know what was built where at some point during conversions.
Wissing said that the subsidies for broadband expansion in Germany would now be “pulled massively” and that the economy was investing record sums in the expansion of communication networks. But that alone is not digitization, but only the prerequisite for it. A mental change is necessary, so that the digital collection of data must always have priority over paper, such as in the Baltic countries.
Özdemir said that the use of digitization in agriculture also ensures that products become more sustainable, production more efficient and this is also better for animal welfare.
Wissing: Discussions with the EU on the combustion engine exit “on the right track”
Wissing was also satisfied with the talks with the EU Commission about the controversial end of combustion engines. “We agreed that we have to achieve our climate protection goals, but that the issue of openness to technology is also a very important factor,” said the FDP politician before the visit of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “I can see that we’re on the right track because we’re pursuing the same goals. Now we just need an answer as to how we’re actually going to implement it.”
The EU vote on the planned end for new cars with combustion engines from 2035 was postponed on Friday due to additional demands from Germany, among others. Wissing had said that Germany could not agree to such a blanket ban on combustion engines at the current time. The EU Commission must submit a proposal on how climate-neutral, synthetic fuels, so-called e-fuels, can be used in combustion engines after 2035.
Wissing said in Meseberg that time had passed that he would have preferred to use differently. But it’s not something that needs to be completed within a week. “Now you have to carefully answer the question: How can openness to technology be anchored in regulation. And once this question has been clarified, then we have reached our goal.