Berlin In the federal government, the dispute over the future rules for climate protection is coming to a head. As the Handelsblatt learned from government circles, the Greens and the FDP are still unable to agree on a joint immediate climate protection program. This was originally supposed to be available before the parliamentary summer recess and is now planned for September. However, there is still a fundamental dispute, as can be seen, for example, in the future funding of electromobility.
The Greens and the responsible Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) want to largely stick to the existing rules of the Climate Protection Act. The FDP, on the other hand, calls for comprehensive reform and refers to the coalition agreement.
For example, the deputy leader of the parliamentary group, Carina Konrad, calls for “the climate protection law to be further developed this year and a cross-sectoral immediate climate protection program with all the necessary measures to be launched”. The FDP wants to take a “holistic” look at climate protection, she told the Handelsblatt. “The climate is not helped if we lose ourselves in small things.”
According to the Climate Protection Act, every ministry in its area of responsibility must ensure that it achieves the set climate targets. This is to ensure that Germany will generate, produce, live and be mobile in a climate-neutral manner from 2045 onwards. Both the transport and building sectors missed the targets last year. According to the law, the responsible ministers must therefore take immediate measures to ensure that the goals are met again in the years to come.
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The Greens are sticking to the current guidelines, emphasizes their spokesman for transport policy in the Bundestag, Stefan Gelbhaar. “Each ministry must achieve the statutory climate protection goals for its sector,” he told the Handelsblatt. “This requires exactly the same efforts in the transport sector as are currently being made in the energy sector.”
Of course, it is important to look at the sectors together, for example when expanding the energy network for electromobility, said Gelbhaar. “However, that does not mean that individual ministries can take it easy on themselves. Such a softening of the climate protection law would be counterproductive and will therefore not be approved.”
The Ministry of Economics distances itself from the Minister of Transport
Shortly before the summer break, the climate protection minister responsible, Robert Habeck, and building minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) presented measures for the building sector in accordance with the applicable legal regulations. They rely on renovations to close the CO2 gap of the past and to close the gaps of the coming years.
Transport Minister Wissing is planning, among other things, the expansion of local transport.
(Photo: dpa)
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), however, had presented his program alone. He rejects immediately effective instruments such as a speed limit, instead relying on long-term measures such as more bike lanes and better local transport. However, the government’s expert council, which reviews the measures for their effectiveness, had already criticized this approach in 2021 in the previous government.
“The climate protection emergency programs for the building and transport sectors are currently being examined by the expert council,” explained a spokesman for the Ministry of Economics and explicitly emphasized that they were not responsible for the transport sector.
There is already talk in government circles that Minister Habeck could present his own emergency program with comprehensive measures with which he can achieve the goals in the coming years – without the transport sector. Officially, however, his spokesman said that the goal was still an “overall draft”.
Stefanie Langkamp, managing director of the Climate Alliance, is critical of the FDP’s efforts to stop looking at each sector individually. “The FDP is again questioning the sector requirements in order to avoid further measures in traffic,” she said.
Jürgen Resch, head of the German Environmental Aid, does not consider the FDP approach to be effective. “Multi-year viewing takes the air out,” he warned. “We expect the traffic light not to change the rules of the game afterwards so as not to have to be accountable. We want decisions to be politically binding.”
Electromobility threatens to falter
How big the differences in the coalition are can be seen in the future funding of e-cars. By 2030, there is a threat of a climate gap of more than 270 million tons of carbon dioxide in the transport sector alone. Traffic currently emits 148 million tons a year, in 2030 it may only be 85 million tons.
Electric cars should make a significant contribution. 15 million should be on the roads by 2030. So far there are 735,000 vehicles in view of the generous subsidies from the federal government. The grant is now set to expire. 3.4 billion euros should be available for this in 2023 and 2024. In 2021, the federal government injected three billion euros.
After the Ministry of Transport in the month-long discussion about climate protection measures in May had even brought into play almost a further doubling of the subsidy, it now welcomes the end of the subsidy. “Electromobility is in the transition to the mass market, and the number of registrations is increasing rapidly,” it said when asked. Clear evidence is the “sometimes very long delivery times” for e-cars.
>> Read here: Traffic light lowers purchase premium for electric cars – plug-in hybrids no longer receive funding
However, there can be no question of a boom. Demand grew rapidly in 2021 after the federal government had doubled the premium. This year, however, fewer vehicles were sold than in the same period of 2021, as figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority show.
Economics Minister Habeck is therefore relying on tax incentives. This includes one “Climate tax” when buying diesel or petrol cars and a higher vehicle tax. E-car owners should, however, pay less vehicle tax. The FDP refused.
The federal government no longer wants to promote electric cars as before.
(Photo: dpa)
Transport Minister Wissing hopes for the car manufacturers. These are now “demanded to convince customers with a comprehensive, attractive and affordable range of vehicles,” said a spokesman. He also wants to expand the charging infrastructure, which is “crucially important”.
The ministries have not yet been able to agree on a “master plan” that has been in place for months. The transport minister sent a draft to the associations. The departmental votes are continuing, as it was said in government circles. They want to come to an agreement by September.
>> Read here: CDU politicians are promoting a general speed limit on motorways
Nothing is good for the industry. According to the Federal Association for eMobility, there are still no great hopes for the master plan. “The unexpected reduction in e-vehicle subsidies is also a serious damper for the German economy and will cost jobs,” explained CEO Markus Emmert.
“Those who thought they were on the safe side with electromobility will now reduce capacities, process current orders and then look at profitable alternatives,” said Emmert. After all, combustion vehicles should be sold by 2035.
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