U-Committee on nuclear phase-out: Lindner against Greens course on nuclear phase-out: “party politics”

U-Committee on nuclear phase-out: Lindner against Greens course on nuclear phase-out: “party politics”

U-Committee Nuclear Phase-out
Lindner against the Greens’ course on nuclear phase-out: “party politics”






Next witness in the committee of inquiry into the nuclear phase-out: former finance minister Lindner. He doesn’t mince his words when it comes to the Greens.

Former Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has clearly criticized the Green ministries’ approach to phasing out nuclear power. At the beginning of his questioning in the Bundestag investigative committee, Lindner said that the Greens’ willingness to make undogmatic decisions on the issue of nuclear energy had reached its limits. From today’s perspective, party political and tactical considerations would have played a larger role than he believed he had observed at the time.

Because of the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, the last three nuclear power plants in Germany ran a few months longer than originally planned. The German nuclear phase-out was postponed from December 31, 2022 to April 15, 2023.

This was preceded by a dispute within the traffic light coalition at the time, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) made a statement in the fall of 2022. Lindner said that Scholz’s use of directive authority was preceded by intensive consultation between himself, Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens). The decision was agreed.

The Union in particular accuses Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) of not having examined the continued operation of nuclear power plants in Germany in an “open-ended” and “unbiased” manner after the start of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, but of having decided for ideological reasons.

Lindner was in favor of continued operation for a longer period of time

With a view to autumn 2022 and the Green ministries, Lindner said that doubts had grown in the Ministry of Finance that this was a fully open-ended audit. From his point of view, maximum pragmatism would have been necessary to ensure additional electricity supply in view of the sharply rising prices.

His stance was that all three nuclear power plants should continue to operate at least until and through the winter of 2023/24, said Lindner. He also saw an option to bring nuclear power plants that were shut down in 2021 back online, if possible. There were further options in the fall, said Lindner. With regard to the Greens, he said: “But the political will was missing.”

dpa

Source: Stern

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