The governing parties had actually already agreed that the legislative plans for replacing the heating system would be passed by the summer. But the FDP is again questioning the date.
The timetable for passing the heating law in the Bundestag, which is also controversial in the coalition, is becoming more and more shaky. The traffic light groups agreed on Tuesday not to discuss the draft in the first reading in Parliament this week. “With good will, we can still pass the law by the summer,” said the parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast. The coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP had actually already agreed on this. The FDP had questioned the date and is pushing for a complete revision.
The parliamentary summer recess begins on July 7th, until then there are three more weeks of sessions. “Now it’s Parliament’s turn,” said Mast. There are already preparatory talks in the coalition this week. People rightly demanded clarity about how to proceed with the heating. “The SPD parliamentary group only agrees to the law if heating remains affordable,” emphasized Mast.
According to the draft already approved by the Federal Cabinet, from 2024 onwards every newly installed heating system should be operated with 65 percent green energy. This should apply to all owners up to the age of 80. Existing oil and gas heating systems can continue to be operated, and broken ones can be repaired. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the changeover is to be cushioned socially by funding – the details are, however, controversial. The law is considered an important component of the plan to make Germany climate-neutral by 2045.
Chancellor Scholz urges speed
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr dampened the hope for timely consultations in the Bundestag. “The question is: Is it already in the status that the Bundestag can discuss it in detail? And I don’t see that at the moment,” said Dürr in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. Apparently the law is not quite finished yet. It doesn’t depend on the day, but “whether Germany gets a good building energy law”.
The Greens had previously warned the FDP not to put the building energy law on the agenda of the Bundestag this week. With a blockade, the FDP would show “that it is not primarily concerned with questions of content, but with profiling for its own sake,” said Parliamentary Director Irene Mihalic of the editorial network Germany (Tuesday).
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had recently urged speed. Scholz expects “that the Bundestag will now discuss the draft law with the necessary thoroughness, but also quickly,” said his spokesman on Monday. SPD leader Saskia Esken said on RTL “Direkt” on Monday evening that the population can rely on “that we design this law in such a way that it is practicable”. People should “be able to afford what we ask of them.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
