Between dispute and confidence: The traffic light coalition is looking for a new beginning

Rarely has the success of a coalition committee depended so much on a prelude in Brussels. On Saturday, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing and the Vice President of the EU Commission, Frans Timmermans, finally agreed on the end of combustion engines, including an exception for e-fuels. For the Greens, this was a prerequisite for meeting the FDP and Chancellor Olaf Scholz when the traffic light was looking for a restart on Sunday evening. Because in Berlin, too, the dispute revolves primarily around transport policy.

The Autobahn Controversy

Above all, Wissing and Scholz want to finally clear up the conflict about the accelerated planning of motorways, railways and waterways. The Greens have been fighting Wissing’s draft law since December, which aims to halve planning times. They only want to concede “overriding public interest” to the repair of motorways, but not to the expansion, which would largely undermine nature conservation.

The SPD has proposed a compromise. The faster procedure would therefore only exist for economically particularly sensible expansions at bottlenecks, and metropolitan areas in particular are likely to be affected. In the end, there could be around 60 to 80 projects on the list.

Climate protection in transport

It’s now about the return. At the last coalition committee, Wissing offered an additional billion for the railway expansion. However, the Greens and SPD believe that at least four to five billion euros more will be needed per year by 2030. This could be financed by the truck toll, which will have a CO2 component from 2024, which, according to traffic light estimates, should bring in four to six billion euros per year. However, that alone will not be enough for the Greens. Why should they play into the hands of the FDP Minister of Transport, Wissing, who himself is demanding more money for rail expansion?

Instead, they want to talk about climate protection in traffic, announced parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge after the parliamentary group meeting in Weimar. In 2022, the transport sector has already emitted nine million tonnes of CO2 too much. Emissions in Wissing’s area of ​​responsibility stagnate at 148 million tons, although they should continue to decrease every year to only 85 million tons in 2030.

For almost a year, Wissing has not presented an effective immediate program as required by the Climate Protection Act. However, the FDP minister has already brought a few proposals to the last coalition committee. But it didn’t get that far back then, the meeting ended after just three hours. Now the list should appear again.

However, the Greens are unlikely to like some FDP ideas, such as more use of biofuel. The SPD transport politicians are also committed to climate-neutral fuels – as a bridging technology. But Environment Minister Steffi Lemke even wants to reduce the use of petrol and diesel from crops in favor of global food security. It is not to be expected that Wissing will completely close the gap in climate protection in transport. Finally, the Liberals want to abolish the sector targets.

heaters

The FDP, in turn, is blocking the plan by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) for new, conventional oil and gas heating systems as early as 2024. On Wednesday, a coalition group is said to have discussed how the heat transition should be socially cushioned can be, reports the “Spiegel”. A scrapping bonus for fossil heating systems, cheap loans and tax advantages for apartment and house owners as well as a lower modernization levy for tenants are under discussion. The scrapping premium could be financed from the climate and transformation fund.

A scrapping premium would be new to me.

Steffen Hebestreitgovernment spokesman

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said, however, that a scrapping bonus “would be new to me”. And a spokesman for Economics Minister Habeck said that this term “was not brought into the discussion by our house”. The heating controversy does not seem to have been completely settled yet.

finance

The background to the traffic light dispute has been the preparation of the budget for 2024 and the financial planning up to 2027 for weeks. The Greens in particular feel that they have been poorly served, not least with regard to basic child security – one of their major projects. Finance Minister Christian Lindner, on the other hand, uses the procedure to present himself as the advocate of budgetary stability and thus retain disappointed FDP voters.

Before the round on Sunday, according to a paper from the Ministry of Finance that was circulating in Berlin in the middle of the week, it was still unclear how a hole of 14 to 18 billion euros in the next budget should be plugged. This does not include “new projects and plans by the departments”.

The 200 billion euros of the defense shield are only there to protect people and companies in the energy crisis.

Christopher MeyerFDP faction vice

The SPD and the Greens may be looking at the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), i.e. the sub-budget that was given credit authorizations of 200 billion euros to finance the energy price brakes and other support measures. After the mild winter, only 15 to 30 billion will be needed for the time being. However, Lindner does not want the credit authorizations to be diverted in favor of other pots or projects.

FDP parliamentary group deputy Christoph Meyer told the Tagesspiegel: “The 200 billion euros of the defense shield are only there to protect people and companies in the energy crisis. What the aid money may be used for is clearly defined in the law.” Perforating the umbrella now is antisocial and irresponsible, “because nobody knows what the situation will be like next winter”. With the FDP parliamentary group there will be no “unrealistic climate laws at the expense of the people”.

The coalition climate

In addition, the traffic light is also fundamentally looking for a new climate of cooperation. Once again. Because that’s what the cabinet meeting in Meseberg was all about. The negotiations are expected to last well into the night. The traffic light will only be able to restart if it finally clears up a few controversial issues.

Transport Minister Wissing increased the pressure before the meeting. “I hope the Greens give up their blockade attitude,” said Wissing of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” with a view to the Autobahn dispute. “There should actually be a consensus that the approval procedures for many infrastructure projects should be accelerated.”

I hope the Greens give up their blocking attitude.

Volker WissingMinister of Transport

The Greens do not want to accept the role of blocker. In the past few days, you have been unusually harsh on Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The tenor: If the coalition cannot find any solutions, it is also due to weakness in leadership. In particular, the Greens parliamentary group has taken steps to prevent the talks from collapsing.

But there is optimism in the coalition. And that has to do with a trip to Japan. On the long flights to Tokyo for the German-Japanese government consultations, Scholz and his most important ministers are said to have discussed possible solutions in advance. Among others, Habeck, Wissing, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) traveled to Japan.

However, it is difficult to predict exactly how the coalition committee will resolve the complicated issues. This is where complicated technical issues such as planning law are negotiated by mostly non-specialist politicians. The body of 16 people (six from the Greens, six from the FDP and only four from the SPD) is considered a black box.

At the end of the coalition committee last spring, the nine-euro ticket came up. A project that no one had heard of before and that only came about in this form in the early hours of the morning.

To home page