Berlin The chimney sweep recently visited Frank Schäffler. The FDP member of the Bundestag asked him what he would have to invest in his house in Bünde in East Westphalia if he wanted to install a heat pump. With all the trimmings, the chimney sweep estimated around 150,000 euros. Schäffler tells that as a proof of the practicability of the heating law.
Schäffler has no official negotiating mandate. The talks, which will continue in the coalition at the weekend, are being conducted by the responsible faction deputies of the traffic light. But the FDP financial expert has a significant share in the fact that the heating law has not yet been passed, but should be improved.
Schäffler sensed early on the indignation the project would cause. “For the country and the FDP, this is a profound issue that affects almost everyone,” he says. And that’s why Schäffler made an emergency request at the FDP party conference in April, when many people were still unfamiliar with the abbreviation GEG.
In it he drew red lines for the heating law. Within a short time, 80 delegates joined, including 30 members of the Bundestag, a third of the FDP parliamentary group.
Experience in the fight against coalition projects
Schäffler had hit a nerve with his concerns about the GEG. The party congress passed the motion almost unanimously. And now Schäffler insists on compliance: “I feel responsible that our party congress resolution is implemented.” From his point of view, a few minor corrections are not enough. “This law means an encroachment on property.” He wants to defuse it decisively.
Schäffler’s chimney sweep estimates that he would have to pay around 150,000 euros for the conversion with all the trimmings.
(Photo: dpa)
The 54-year-old politician has experience when it comes to fighting projects of his own government. In the black-yellow coalition, he made a name for himself as a “Euro rebel”.
Schäffler not only recommended Greece to sell a few uninhabited islands to alleviate the financial crisis. He regularly voted against aid measures for other countries and tried to prevent the establishment of the permanent euro rescue fund ESM.
To this end, he initiated a member vote in the FDP, which he lost, however, as well as a vote at the federal party conference. And yet: It was remarkable that he was able to rally 44 percent of the FDP members behind him almost single-handedly against the entire party leadership. This did not make him popular with the party leaders. He also had to fight for a good place on the list in the last federal election.
>> Read here: That answers Habeck to the FDP questions
Is Schäffler now a heating rebel? He dismisses the fact that there are crucial differences. “Unlike then, we are very much in agreement in the FDP,” says Schäffler. He sees himself in line with the party leader and the faction leader. “There are no big differences between Christian Lindner, Christian Dürr and me.”
Group leader Christian Dürr confirms this. “I share Frank Schäffler’s concerns,” he told Handelsblatt. “Many people are rightly unsettled, that moves all of our MPs.” That’s why the parliamentary group wants to focus on creating a practicable heating law that allows many technologies.
But does the unity hold? At some point there will be a compromise in the coalition. And the question is whether the FDP leaders are not willing to make more concessions than hardliner Schäffler.
For Schäffler, it’s all about beliefs
For Schäffler, like the euro rescue, it’s about convictions. The business economist is skeptical about state intervention and advocates “principled regulatory policy”. Some describe him as a libertarian, he sees himself as a “classic liberal”.
After the FDP was kicked out of the Bundestag in 2013, he founded the “Prometheus Freedom Institute”. The think tank is intended to network liberals and push back “state-believing thinking in Germany”.
Prometheus is a partner in the Atlas Network, which is sponsored by the arch-conservative Koch brothers and the oil company Exxon Mobil. Since Schäffler has been fighting the GEG, this connection has brought him a lot of criticism. He is said to be paid by the oil and gas lobby.
“The allegations are completely absurd,” says Schäffler. “We are a small institute and don’t get any money from the oil or gas lobby.” Such unjustified allegations are annoying. “I’ve got a thick skin.” Again and again Schäffler is criticized for not sufficiently delimiting himself to the right. Schäffler has also been called a climate change denier.
He sees himself differently. He wants nothing to do with the AfD. And he emphasizes: “I’m not questioning climate change.” But the right way to deal with the problem is important. And the financial politician considers government interventions, such as with the heating law, to be the wrong approach.
>> Read here: CO2 price or heating law? These solutions are possible
The further procedure at the GEG will now be discussed in the parliamentary group meeting next Tuesday, says Schäffler. While the FDP leadership believes an agreement is still possible in the coming weeks, Schäffler is certain: “The law will certainly not be passed before the summer break.”
More: EU officials are considering tougher heating rules than the federal government