Olaf Scholz has been Chancellor for six weeks and on Friday his government met for the first closed meeting in the Chancellery.

Such meetings are usually used to discuss the plans of a coalition in peace.

At the beginning of a government ministers can get to know each other better.

Because of the pandemic, however, the usual meeting over two days in a place outside of the government district, such as the guest house of the federal government, did not take place.

Instead, the Chancellor's Office spoke on Friday.

Eckhart Lohse

Head of the parliamentary editorial office in Berlin.

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Markus Wehner

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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After the meeting, Scholz said there was extensive discussion of Germany's G7 presidency, which Germany has just taken over from Britain.

The federal government wants to use the presidency for the "ambitious task" of stopping man-made climate change.

Scholz confirmed his idea of ​​founding a “climate club” for this purpose.

The club aims to use a trade agreement to motivate countries to work towards climate protection in the transformation of industry.

Scholz had presented the idea as Finance Minister in August 2021.

In order to stop climate change, it is important "that we become faster," said Scholz now.

Climate neutrality by 2045

Speed ​​was the overarching theme of the exam.

Chancellor and minister discussed how planning and approval procedures can be accelerated.

Germany should become climate-neutral by 2045 and at the same time remain at the forefront technologically, said Scholz.

For this, speed is crucial.

Faster procedures are also a prerequisite for 400,000 new homes being built each year and transport projects being implemented more quickly, said Scholz.

Above all, renewable energies, wind power and solar energy, must be expanded more quickly.

Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck therefore wants more approved areas for wind energy to be made available for expansion, which are currently being blocked by the German Armed Forces or air traffic control.

Habeck was satisfied with the cooperation in the coalition. The Greens chairman regretted that the meeting did not take place in the usual comfortable environment because of the pandemic and spoke of a “sterile atmosphere”. But he didn't want to relate that to the mood between the coalition partners. There were "nice contacts" and there was also laughter. "The will to help oneself simply pulls through." The problems would be "not solved according to party colors". When Habeck was asked about the government's unity on the issue of sanctions against Russia in the event of an attack on Ukraine, he even presented a law that would be new for a coalition if it were to be maintained: "It's a government, and a government is fundamentally always united.”

After Habeck, it was the turn of Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who did not speak so enthusiastically about the unity, but instead talked about the difficult economic situation in the pandemic.

They also want to use the German G7 presidency to talk about economic recovery and currency stability.

Debt levels have finally risen in many countries.

In connection with the corona vaccination requirement, to which some in the FDP are much more critical than the Greens and SPD, Lindner then commented on the topic of unity.

The FDP leader reiterated that a law to be formulated would not become a law of the coalition.

The obligation to vaccinate has “a high potential for conflict” in society.

There must also be “space for deviating positions”.