Status: 10.11.2022 11:07 am
After the elections in Lower Saxony, the mood between the FDP and the Greens in the federal government has not diminished. On the contrary: The dispute over longer runtimes for nuclear power plants is intensifying. Finance Minister Lindner blocked Habeck’s plans.
There is an open dispute in the federal government over the use of nuclear energy. Specifically: The FDP in the form of Finance Minister Christian Lindner considers the continued operation of just two plants until spring 2023 insufficient. The Greens, in the form of Economy Minister Robert Habeck, do. Due to the ministerial dispute, Habeck’s corresponding bill could not pass the cabinet on Monday as planned. In fact, the cabinet was even supposed to vote last week.
This undermines Habeck’s plan to have the two Isar II and Neckarwestheim nuclear power plants in operation as an operating reserve to stabilize the electrical grid and take only the last nuclear plant off the grid by mid-April 2023. To do this, the Energy Act Atomic and the Energy Industry Act must be amended. Under current law, they would have to go offline at the end of 2022.
Traffic light coalition discusses extending the life of nuclear power plants
Michael Hertle, ARD Berlin, Daily Topics 10:15 pm, October 11, 2022
FDP boss Lindner is not enough for Habeck’s plans
The FDP, on the other hand, is pushing for the three remaining German nuclear plants to continue operating until 2024 – party leader and finance minister Christian Lindner reaffirmed this on Monday. The third nuclear power plant still in operation in Germany, the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony, does not want Habeck to go into reserve and will be taken off the grid at the end of the year.
“Political Disagreements”
At the Ministry of Economy, the delay was criticized in an unusually clear way by the ministerial colleague. “There was a clear understanding with coalition partners that, despite different perspectives, this draft operational reserve law should be brought to the cabinet this Monday so it can be addressed in the parliamentary process,” the spokeswoman said. of the ministry. “Due to political differences, however, this agreement was withdrawn.”
Time is of the essence, also because the Isar II nuclear power plant needs repairs to stay connected to the grid beyond the end of the year. “Nuclear plant operators need clarity,” the spokeswoman said.
The Greens under pressure – the FDP too
This reveals a deep substantive conflict between the two government partners. For the Greens, extending the operation of two nuclear plants until spring 2023 is political impertinence, but due to the energy crisis, the party is forced to swallow it. The FDP, on the other hand, believes that Germany should use all possible sources of energy – including nuclear. The party is pressing the Greens on the issue and is now increasing the pressure by blocking the bill.
It is obvious that the FDP’s bitter electoral defeat in Lower Saxony hardly alleviated the situation. It may also seem understandable that the Greens are now accusing the FDP of partisan tactics. FDP boss Lindner announced that he wanted to readjust the course of the traffic light. It’s about “how we turn on the FDP’s position lights,” he said. It seems that the Liberals, after four consecutive defeats in the state elections, will be able to assert themselves more at the expense of the SPD and the Greens and defend their positions more vehemently.
And what does the chancellor say? A spokeswoman for Olaf Scholz recently referred to a deal in the coalition agreement. There she says: “We are adhering to the elimination of German nuclear energy.”