Several federal states are calling for improvements to Habeck’s heating plans
“Not something we can say goodbye to”
According to its general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai, the FDP will only approve the bill on the heat transition by Economics Minister Habeck and Building Minister Geywitz if there are significant corrections. Djir-Sarai said at WELT: “What we have on the table is not something we can say goodbye to.”
If the federal government has its way, from 2024 new heating systems should be operated with 65 percent renewable energies. Habeck’s heating plans are currently being negotiated in the Bundesrat, and the federal states have registered a need for changes.
ESome federal states are demanding improvements to the federal government’s heating plans. This is based on recommendations from various Federal Council committees. However, the deliberations are only just beginning.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) said on Thursday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin” that the funding had to be readjusted. “The goal must be that people with a small budget in particular are not overwhelmed. This is taken into account in the concept presented by the federal government. But from my point of view it is still not enough.”
The Federal Council’s environment committee, in which many green state environment ministers are represented, is calling for the heating plans to be tightened. The federal government’s current draft law contains a general ban on the operation of heating boilers that run on fossil fuels. It should take effect after December 31, 2044. This goal is compatible with the goal of the federal government to achieve a climate-neutral building stock in 2045, it says.
In some countries, however, climate neutrality is being sought even earlier. “In order to be able to achieve these goals, the countries must be given the opportunity to enact regulations banning the operation of heating boilers with fossil fuels at an earlier stage.”
Stephan Weil (SPD) calls for better support for low-income people in the heating transition
Source: dpa/Julian Stratenschulte
The Federal Council will vote on the recommendations on May 12. It is unclear whether these will be accepted. Weil pointed out that we are at the very beginning of the legislative process. There are different recommendations in the committees of the Federal Council. The Federal Council will have to decide on this at the next meeting. The Bundestag is also at the beginning of parliamentary deliberations. The FDP has already called for significant improvements.
When it’s warm, the Greens want to go for “social flanking”.
According to the draft law passed by the Federal Cabinet, from 2024 every newly installed heating system should be operated with 65 percent renewable energy. This is intended to herald the departure from gas and oil heating systems. There is no immediate obligation to replace heating systems in existing buildings. If a device breaks down and can no longer be repaired, there are transitional periods.
The Green Party leader Ricarda Lang said in the RTL/ntv program “Frühstart” about demands from the Federal Council’s environmental committee: “Further tightening is not planned.” The opposite is the case. “If we as Greens say at one point that we have to do it again, then it’s social flanking.” She thinks it makes much more sense to proceed in a socially staggered manner. Those who have little should get more support. That is now the subject of negotiations in the Bundestag.