Federal government: Graichen withdrawal creates new doubts about the heating law

First he has to send his state secretary into the desert, and now Robert Habeck’s schedule for the controversial law to replace oil and gas heating systems is also shaky. The FDP is stepping on the brakes – on the grounds that Parliament has lost the central contact person for the topic in Economics Secretary Patrick Graichen. The SPD and the Greens, on the other hand, see no connection between the two issues.

In fact, Graichen is considered one of the architects of the energy and heating transition in the green-led Ministry of Economic Affairs. Minister Habeck announced the resignation of his high-ranking official on Wednesday after he had failed to sufficiently separate private and professional life in two verifiable cases. The decisive factor was Graichen’s preliminary decision on funding for the Berlin BUND regional association, on whose board his sister Verena sits.

“It is obvious that such a serious change at the top of the ministry will not speed up the deliberations on the Building Energy Act,” said FDP Federal Deputy Wolfgang Kubicki to the “Handelsblatt”. It’s probably the opposite, because there are a number of unanswered questions.

FDP and several federal states see a need for improvement

According to Habeck’s previous plans, the law should be passed in the Bundestag before the parliamentary summer recess, which begins on July 7th. However, the FDP and several federal states see a considerable need for improvement. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil also recently emphasized that the law must be made better in parliament – among other things, by means of subsidies graduated according to income, transitional periods, more tenant protection and a farewell to the rigid 80-year age limit.

The FDP does not believe that this can be done until July. “I think it’s out of the question to say goodbye before the summer break,” General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai told the “Bild” newspaper. “It doesn’t matter when the GEG is passed. What matters is that it becomes a good law that doesn’t overwhelm anyone and enables many technologies.” Djir-Sarai reported that his faction still had around 100 questions. “As long as these are not answered, the deliberations on the law cannot even begin.”

The Greens and SPD are now accusing their coalition partner, the FDP, of artificially constructing a connection with the Graichen case and thus delaying the decision on the heating law. The parliamentary secretary of the Greens parliamentary group, Irene Mihalic, told the editorial network Germany that the FDP had already questioned the timetable before Graichen’s dismissal. “Therefore, I consider this connection to be constructed.” She has no doubts that questions can be clarified. “Many people in two ministries worked on the draft law. There is no shortage of competent contacts who are very familiar with the subject.”

SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert said in the ZDF “heute journal”: “Both issues have nothing to do with each other.” There is no climate neutrality in Germany without addressing the type of heating. Nothing has changed about that. The SPD left-wing Sebastian Roloff also emphasized in the “Handelsblatt”: “There is no connection between the substantive work of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Mr. Graichen’s misconduct – nobody should now artificially produce it.”

Left: Habeck “seriously damaged”

However, Habeck remains stricken even after the separation from his state secretary. Left faction leader Amira Mohamed Ali sees him as “seriously damaged”. “Depending on what is still being brought to light, his whereabouts in office must also be questioned,” she told the “Rheinische Post”.

In this context, the Union is focusing on another of Habeck’s state secretaries. In the economic committee, she wants to talk about possible conflicts of interest in the promotion of startups. Responsible for this is Udo Philipp, whose private investments in several companies make the opposition sit up and take notice.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Thursday that Philipp was involved in four companies, but as state secretary he was not involved with these companies, “especially not with decisions from which they would benefit financially”. He has also been “in no way active with the company since 2019 and has no influence on business policy”. He reported the holdings, although the rules did not require him to do so.

However, in order to avoid conflicts of interest, care was taken that Philipp does not make any decisions from which the four companies could benefit financially. “In concrete terms, this means that State Secretary Philipp’s office ensures that State Secretary Philipp will not submit any decisions that affect these companies,” the ministry said. One of the companies was funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. However, Philipp was not involved in the decisions.

Under another affair, those involved drew the line on Thursday: the federal German Energy Agency (Dena) re-advertised the position of its managing director. Michael Schäfer was originally supposed to take up the post on June 15. The personnel caused criticism because Schäfer is Graichen’s best man. Graichen sat on the selection committee that suggested Schäfer for the post. According to Dena, he is now waiving a severance payment. The Energy Agency emphasized that the procedural error in the occupation was solely the fault of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.