Annoyed look: Now the traffic light government – including Robert Habeck – may have to sit in detention in the summer. Florian Gaertner / Contributor
Less than 48 hours before the final parliamentary decision on the controversial heating law, the Federal Constitutional Court stopped the project in summary proceedings.
The CDU member of the Bundestag Thomas Heilmann had applied for a temporary injunction to prohibit the Bundestag from final deliberation and voting on the law
There are now two options for the further procedure: either the Bundestag meets for a special session during the summer break or the decision is postponed until September.
Less than 48 hours before the final parliamentary decision on the controversial heating law, the Federal Constitutional Court stopped the project in summary proceedings. The second and third reading in the Bundestag planned for Friday morning should not take place during the current week of the session, the highest German court in Karlsruhe announced on Wednesday. It raised doubts that the rights of MPs were sufficiently protected in the deliberations. The procedure in the Bundestag was hastily organized by the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP. Anyone who, as a tenant or house and apartment owner, expected extensive clarity after months of coalition disputes must now continue to be patient.
There are now two options for the further procedure: either the Bundestag meets for a special session during the summer break, which actually begins after this Friday – or the decision is postponed until September, when the Bundestag will meet again regularly.
“Slap in the face” for the politicians
For the traffic lights, including Economics Minister Robert Habeck, the clearly expressed concerns of the judges are a political defeat, opposition representatives spoke of a “slap in the face”. Politicians from the FDP, whose party supported the compromise, initially blamed the Greens. They, in turn, said through parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge that they had respect for the verdict and would “quickly decide on the new date for the final consultation at the traffic lights”.
In essence, the Building Energy Act (GEG) provides that in future only heating systems that can be operated with at least 65 percent renewable energies may be installed in the future. Up to 70 percent of the costs of the switch are to be subsidized from tax revenue – but there is no precise concept yet.
CDU politicians had the law stopped
The CDU member of the Bundestag Thomas Heilmann had applied for an injunction to prohibit the Bundestag from final deliberation and voting on the law if the bill was not submitted to the members of parliament in writing at least 14 days beforehand – which was not the case. Heilmann wrote on Twitter: “This is a great success for our parliamentarianism and in this specific case also for climate protection!” can overlook.”
Heilmann had argued that his rights as a member of parliament had been seriously violated by the legislative process. “The traffic light is ruining the heat transition with a last-minute legislative package and an unconstitutional procedure,” he accused the coalition. Because of the shortened deliberations on the amendment of the GEG in Parliament, no conceptual weaknesses in the legislative package could be identified and changed.
The court has now declared that Heilmann’s main application in the organ dispute proceedings does not appear to be inadmissible from the outset or obviously unfounded in view of his right to equal participation in parliamentary decision-making under Article 38 of the Basic Law. “The deputies not only have the right to vote in the German Bundestag, but also the right to advise.” The assessment of the consequences leads to the result “that the reasons for issuing a temporary injunction outweigh the reasons”. The interest in avoiding an irreversible violation of participation rights outweighs the intervention in the procedural autonomy of the Bundestag, which merely delays legislation. The decision was made in the Second Senate by a vote of five to two.
LS / DPA