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CDU man Frei: "Still no agreement in sight"
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
Instead of discussing the heating law in the Bundestag, the traffic light is currently deliberating on the project, especially in internal rounds. The parliament is not involved enough, complains the First Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei.
"In its coalition agreement, the traffic light had announced that it would make parliament more of a place of debate," the CDU politician told SPIEGEL. "Unfortunately, exactly the opposite can be observed: the traffic light prevents parliamentary debate in order to then discuss with associations behind closed doors."
Frei refers to the fact that Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) discussed the faltering negotiations on the Building Energy Act with representatives of the traffic light parliamentary groups on Tuesday evening.
"This does not bode well for the citizens," said the CDU politician. "The law is expected to come into force in six months, but there is still no agreement in sight on financial support for citizens and companies as well as on the further procedure." Reliable legislation looks different.
Economics Minister Habeck had met with specialist politicians of the traffic light coalition to discuss open questions of the FDP on the legislative plans. Actually, the Green politician had planned to submit the heating law to the Bundestag for consultation as early as May. This failed due to the resistance of the FDP within the coalition. It is currently unclear whether the law will be introduced into parliament before the summer recess. Actually, it is supposed to come into force at the beginning of 2024.
The SPD and the Greens, however, hope for an early agreement in the heating dispute. With "a little good will", a adoption before the start of the parliamentary summer break at the beginning of July is possible, said the parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast, the broadcasters RTL and ntv. Green Party leader Katharina Dröge also expressed confidence. FDP parliamentary group vice-chairman Christoph Meyer, on the other hand, said that many questions remain unanswered.
Habeck has presented compromise lines
Habeck had pointed out possible compromise lines to the bill on Friday. In its current version, the draft stipulates that, as a rule, new heating systems may only be installed from 2024 if they can be operated with at least 65 percent renewable energies. The minister is now proposing that this should possibly be limited to new buildings for the time being and that existing buildings should only be put into effect at a later date. He also expressed his willingness to make the regulations more flexible.
CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja accused the SPD and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of lacking leadership in the face of the coalition dispute over the heating law. "The SPD is not leading at all," he said on Wednesday in the ZDF "morning magazine". There are well over 70 laws that have been postponed due to a lack of agreement. Scholz "let these disputes all run their course". Czaja rejected accusations that the CDU had slept through the heat transition in its 16 years in government.
flo/dpa