Defeat for the Greens, triumph for the Liberals?

Berlin The day after the coalition committee, the leaders of the Greens are doing their utmost to recapture the party’s dissatisfaction with the decisions. “Don’t let yourself be unsettled,” tweeted party leader Omid Nouripour on Wednesday night. Even if some of the results are not good, progress is being made in climate protection. “Contrary to some ducks, we have not abolished sector targets, nor will we build new highways,” he wrote.

Not everyone in the party sees it that way, on the contrary. There is talk of a defeat – the accusation is that, together with the SPD and FDP, they have weakened climate protection. And the question is why the Greens could not achieve more.

In fact, the events in the coalition committee make it clear that power is being rearranged at the traffic light. So far it was the FDP that felt like an outsider in the alliance, as a liberal against two left-wing parties. But when it comes to climate protection, which was the main issue now, this constellation obviously no longer applies. Now social democrats and liberals alike are talking about “pragmatic climate protection”. After the fierce criticism of the planned ban on the installation of new gas and oil heating systems and the failed climate referendum in Berlin, both parties are united in their conviction that citizens and companies should not be overburdened.

After the coalition committee, many FDP politicians often praise Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The Greens, on the other hand, are very frustrated with Scholz. He has made it clear that he is clearly not on the side of the Greens when it comes to climate protection, said a senior Green government official. “There is nothing left of the climate chancellor.” Scholz is obviously concerned about his office, so he jumps to the side of the FDP at every opportunity.

The conflicts are particularly evident in the transport sector, one of the largest climate protection construction sites. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) has been harshly criticized by the Greens for weeks because he has missed his climate goals. But to the annoyance of many environmentalists, the coalition committee did not increase the pressure on Wissing, but relaxed the requirements of the Climate Protection Act.

Traffic issue

The Greens member of the Bundestag, Kassem Taher Saleh, spoke to the Handelsblatt about a “dilution of the climate protection law”. These are “bitter concessions”. “In this coalition, we pay double and triple for our projects,” said Taher Saleh. “Neither the SPD nor the FDP are committed to real climate protection.”

A bitter pill from a green point of view is also that the resolutions provide for faster planning processes not only for rail, power grids and renewable energies, but also for 144 motorway projects. That destroys “valuable ecosystems” and will cause even more emissions, tweeted Bundestag member Kathrin Henneberger. The resistance will continue in Parliament. The German Environmental Aid also spoke of a devastating decision – despite the Green Party’s attempts to appease it.

>> Read more: “The right argument in the wrong place” – Lützerath puts the Greens in need of explanation

Co-Chair Ricarda Lang admitted it was a “painful compromise”. However, there are also successes, for example that 80 percent of the planned CO2 surcharge on the truck toll will flow into the expansion of the rail network. You are finally breaking with the principle “street finances street”. She also sees it as a success that the Building Energy Act will come before the summer.

Overall, she was not satisfied with the result. Your party fights in the coalition “often pretty much alone” for more climate protection.

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) also spoke up on Wednesday afternoon with a video message on his ministry’s Twitter profile. He does not expect that the steps towards more CO2 savings in the transport sector will be sufficient to achieve the goals set. That was particularly unsatisfactory for him, said Habeck. “But you have to say it clearly: more is not possible in this coalition.”

The Green MEP Rasmus Andresen even questioned the coalition. “If you have to push through every climate policy measure against the Federal Chancellor in a coalition, this cooperation cannot be successful in the long term,” he wrote on Twitter.

“There is nothing left of the climate chancellor”

SPD and FDP against the Greens – according to representatives of all three parties, that was the constellation again and again in the 31-hour negotiations. According to the Social Democrats and Liberals, the fact that it took so long in the coalition committee was mainly due to the Greens. Again and again the representatives of the eco-party withdrew to internal consultations in order to coordinate with their “green guardian council” in the background.

The Greens were torn in the negotiations between their two camps: the pragmatic realos who want the government to work successfully. And the green regular clientele, which fights hand in hand with the green front organizations for effective climate protection and believes that this overarching goal should not fall victim to pragmatism. “Not for the FDP, but for the Greens, the way to this government is furthest,” says a member of the government.

>> Read here: Leading economists praise the traffic light decisions

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) in particular had a difficult time in the negotiations, according to the SPD and FDP. Again and again he was sent into the negotiation rounds with “impossible missions”. In the round in the Chancellery, the Greens suddenly made the move to abolish the commuter allowance. SPD and FDP immediately brusquely rejected this.

Difficult weeks for the coalition

There are also differences of opinion in the coalition as to whether the coalition committee was well prepared. Within the Green Party, there was behind-the-scenes criticism of Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD). According to the eco-party, the fact that the negotiations were so tough was also due to the less than optimal preparation of the head of the Federal Chancellery.

There they had previously zeroed in on Schmidt. The Greens suspect that the head of the chancellery leaked Habeck’s bill banning gas and oil heating to make the vice chancellor look stupid.

Especially in the final hours of the coalition committee, things were chaotic. Chancellor Scholz had appointments that could not be postponed, such as receiving the President of Kenya and therefore had to leave the meeting three hours before it actually ended.

At the press conference with Kenya’s President William Ruto, Scholz raised high expectations when asked about the ongoing coalition committee. There will be “very, very, very good results” that will surprise some “a bit”.

Government officials followed the Chancellor’s announcements with surprise and annoyance. At that point, they had known for a long time that the package would not contain any real surprises.

The two coalition partners are counting on the Greens supporting the decisions despite criticism from their own ranks. However, the SPD and FDP fear that the results of Tuesday evening will make the deadlocked budget negotiations even more difficult.

“The Greens will think they urgently need a big success now and will insist even more on their projects such as basic security or money for climate protection,” says a member of the government. Finance Minister Lindner should therefore face difficult weeks.

More: The results of the coalition committee are a disenchantment with the Greens

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