overview
Not only the heating law, but also other traffic light projects should go through parliament before the summer break. In the coalition committee, the three parties had agreed on a timetable. Now there is a risk of traffic jams and arguments.
They sat together for a total of 30 hours in March – in this almost legendary XXL coalition committee meeting. The three traffic light partners agreed on a timetable until the summer break. What else do you want to do, which legislative projects can perhaps wait until autumn – everything was discussed and agreed in the coalition committee. The three parties naturally set different priorities, and compromises had to be made – the Greens in particular were dissatisfied afterwards because they felt the FDP was able to push through too much. Also with the help of the chancellor party SPD. Ultimately, however, the Greens also agreed to the overall package. With the resistance of the FDP against the heating law, numerous draft laws are now again on the brink. An overview:
The Building Energy Act
The Building Energy Act (GEG) was not as much in focus then as it is now. The Greens committed themselves to the fact that there would be subsidies for replacing the heating system, that an approach open to technology would be pursued and that tenants would not be overwhelmed. “Nobody will be left in the lurch,” is the final sentence of the resolution paper on the coalition committee. For the Greens, the important sentence on the draft law was in the paper: “It will be initiated by the federal government in order to pass the law before the summer break in the Bundestag.” That is now in question, Economics Minister Robert Habeck speaks of breach of word by the FDP. He, like the Parliamentary Secretary of the Greens, Britta Haßelmann, warns, barely disguised, of a counter-blockade, as a kind of retaliation. Motto: As you to me, so I to you.
Planning Acceleration Act
First of all, the Planning Acceleration Act by Transport Minister Volker Wissing is mentioned here. The FDP politician also wants to accelerate well over 100 motorway projects, which the Greens saw critically. Wissing and the FDP largely prevailed in the coalition committee. The law has been passed in the cabinet. The referral in the Bundestag and thus the decision are still pending – as with the heating law. Without a yes from the Greens, it cannot be put on the agenda.
The Climate Protection Act
The reform of the climate protection law is even more important for the traffic light coalition. Critics speak of a dilution. Above all, it is a core concern of the FDP. It is already anchored in the coalition agreement and should actually be presented in 2022. The plan is to relax the law so that every sector from energy to transport will no longer have to comply with specific upper limits for CO2 emissions every single year. Multi-year consideration and offsetting among the sectors should be possible, above all at the request of the FDP.
Above all, that would reduce the pressure on Wissing’s FDP-led Ministry of Transport. Because Wissing has broken the guidelines for the second time in a row and would now have to launch an immediate program with cuts, which, according to the current law, must be submitted by mid-July at the latest. Wissing and the FDP hope to avoid this with a legal reform. But Minister of Economics and Climate Minister Habeck has to work out the draft. And as long as there is no progress with his heating law, the Green politician shows no hurry here either.
And then there’s the household
Here, in turn, the FDP has the upper hand – in the form of party leader and finance minister Christian Lindner. The government has been arguing for weeks about which departments will have to save how much in the coming year. There is a billion gap. This also includes projects agreed in the coalition agreement, such as basic child security. Green Minister Lisa Paus demands more money than Lindner wants to provide. He has not yet presented a draft budget for 2024 in the cabinet – and he does not want to do so on June 21, as initially planned. The opposition and the Greens are demanding a draft by the summer break.
According to Lindner, all coalition partners would have to make their contribution to saving. And here a basic problem of the three coalition partners shows up again. The FDP warns of a one-sided burden on drivers or small and medium-sized businesses. The Greens propose reducing climate-damaging subsidies such as the company car privilege and thus saving billions. The SPD is fighting against cuts in the social sector. Everyone agrees on just one point: the defense budget should be increased.