Disputes and discussions are as much a part of this traffic light coalition as salt is to a soup. A little is necessary, too much is not good. Things are bubbling up loudly again, because the Greens are putting three new issues on the agenda.
As soon as the Greens put new bills on the table, you can start counting down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … and a statement from the FDP appears, in which it is heavily criticized. In these weeks, the number of beats is particularly rapid. The Greens put three controversial issues on the agenda: child security, a ban on advertising sweets and now a possible ban on oil and gas heating.
One could object: why controversial issues? Because the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on all of these projects in the coalition agreement. That’s true, but the contract has now sunk to the status of a loose collection of ideas. Depending on their interests, the parties pull it out of the drawer and insist on implementing it – or they say that the Ukraine war has turned everything upside down and that we have to think again.
“The Ukraine war was not in the coalition agreement,” said FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai in an interview with ntv.de. He justified Transport Minister Volker Wissing’s demand that not only the planning of railway lines but also of motorways should be simplified – although it was agreed that track construction should be given priority. Transport policy is another long-running issue of this coalition, which has been causing flames to flare up behind and in front of the scenes for months. Not to mention the combustion engine, whose ban by the EU the FDP does not want to accept. Wissing just said he wanted to block the same if e-fuels were not allowed. What the Greens are likely to feel as another cold shower.
The Greens have also been talking about basic child security for weeks, now the tone is getting tougher. Family Minister Lisa Paus called on “ntv Frühstart” to prioritize socio-political projects. “I don’t want to play off external security against internal security now. But one thing is absolutely clear: In this crisis situation, we must also ensure that our society doesn’t fly even further apart,” said the Greens politician. The basic child security is a project of the Greens, with which they campaigned. For that reason alone, they must insist on implementing it.
In January, the Ministry for Family Affairs sent key points on the project to other departments involved. According to this, previous social benefits such as child benefit and child allowance are to be combined in the basic child security. A simpler structure and easier access aims to reach more families and fight child poverty. A “guaranteed amount” is planned for each child, at least equal to the child benefit. In addition, there should be an “additional amount”, the amount of which depends on the parents’ income.
At the political Ash Wednesday last week, Greens leader Ricarda Lang pushed up the volume control: “For me, basic child security is the socio-political project of this federal government. And we say clearly that the fight against child poverty is not free. But it has to be damned to us be worth again.”
Finance Minister Christian Lindner had already spoken out. “Not everything that is desirable goes immediately,” he said to the t-online portal. It is not in the interests of the younger generation to take on new debts. Child poverty has increased primarily due to immigration. Instead of “new transfers,” he suggested helping parents learn German and find a job. There is also no finished concept for basic child security.
Agriculture and Food Minister Cem Özdemir then appeared before the press on Monday. The Green politician presented points for a bill to ban the advertising of foods that are particularly high in sugar, salt and fat for children. Accordingly, these should no longer be allowed to be advertised between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., neither on television nor on the Internet. This was also agreed in principle. You didn’t have to wait long for criticism from the FDP. The parliamentary group’s agricultural policy spokesman, Gero Hocker, immediately announced that the Greens politician would “not find a majority” within the traffic light. Özdemir is apparently pursuing the goal of “making every underage child into an underage citizen”.
On Tuesday, a project from the Ministry of Economic Affairs led by Robert Habeck made the headlines. The “Bild” newspaper reported on a draft law that would ban the installation of new oil and gas heating systems from 2024. Instead, district heating, heat pumps or biomass boilers would have to be used. According to information from ntv, the draft is no longer up-to-date and a new version is to be presented soon.
The coalition agreement states that from January 2025 “every newly installed heating system should be operated on the basis of 65 percent renewable energies”. Something is brewing here, too: “Bild” said the FDP spokesman for construction and housing, Daniel Fröst, Habeck and his ministry “sometimes have fantasies that cannot be done with the FDP”. There was also objection from the SPD-led Ministry of Construction.
As if that wasn’t enough, there are also the heartfelt, caustic letters that Lindner and Habeck sent back and forth. It was about money, more precisely: about the future budget. Habeck had suggested tax increases in order to finance the project – a no-go for the FDP leader. He replied in a smug tone. The fact that both letters did not find their way to the public by chance speaks for the bad climate inside the traffic light. That should change from next Sunday. Then the coalition goes into seclusion at Meseberg Castle for two days.
After all, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to have sided with Lindner. Accordingly, there will be no new debts beyond the debt brake. New dispute, however, already. You can rely on this coalition.
