The FDP has prevented the draft for the new heating law from being brought to the Bundestag this week. The party is now asking Habeck’s ministry dozens of questions.
On Thursday, the FDP submitted 77 questions to the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWK) by Robert Habeck (Greens) about the Building Energy Act, also known as the “Heating Act”. The traffic light parties have been arguing about the amendment to the law for weeks. “These questions will be processed and of course answered,” said the t-online request.
There was initially confusion about the number of questions. The “Bild” reported that the FDP leadership submitted 113 questions on Thursday, 36 of which had already been asked. However, the ministry explained to t-online: “What was submitted to the BMWK this morning are 77 questions from the FDP reporters.” And further: “The BMWK has still not received a catalog of 101 questions. There has also not been a catalog of 113 questions.”
36 already submitted questions, 77 new questions
The number 113 is therefore composed differently: At the beginning of May, the governing parties SPD, Greens and FDP submitted a catalog of questions on the planned heating reform to the BMWK. “These questions were all answered by the BMWK some time ago, and inquiries about the answers were also answered,” said Habeck’s ministry.
At that time, 36 questions came from the FDP. Added to the 77 new questions, the party put a total of 113 questions to the BMWK – but not submitted 113 questions at once. In the catalogue, which is available on t-online, the title explicitly states: “List of questions from the FDP from May 25th, 2023 in addition to the questions already submitted”.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck wants to meet representatives of the three traffic light groups SPD, Greens and FDP to exchange views on the planned heating law. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) in Berlin said on Thursday that he would invite you to do so in a timely manner. An exact time for the meeting was not initially known.
It’s about these questions
And what questions does Christian Lindner’s party ask? Among other things, there are inquiries about the savings potential of renovations without replacing the heating system (question 6, “What savings potential in terms of CO2 (equivalents) and energy does the Federal Government see through the pure renovation of the existing building – without installing a new heating system?”) or about the planned Role of biomethane (Question 28, “What measures is the Federal Government planning to increase biomethane production and feeding it into the gas network?”). According to the draft, biomethane should remain an option in existing buildings.
In addition, the party notes that the planning and installation of renewable heating systems requires significantly more time and effort and asks: “How does the BMWK estimate the current potential and the necessary need for specialists from the corresponding air conditioning trades in the trade in order to meet the additional workload in a timely manner implement?”
“The public dispute has unsettled the population so much”
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil meanwhile called on the governing coalition to quickly resolve the deadlocked heating dispute. “The public dispute has unsettled the population in a way that I have experienced with a few draft laws before,” he told the “Spiegel”. “We should all pull together and come to a conclusion quickly.” The FDP must provide answers as to what a compromise could look like, emphasized Klingbeil.
Due to fundamental concerns, the FDP has prevented the draft law that has already been passed by the cabinet from being dealt with in the Bundestag this week in the first reading. It stipulates that from next year every newly installed heating system must be operated with at least 65 percent renewable energy. Alternatively, you can also switch to climate-neutral heat from a heating network. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the switch should be socially cushioned – the details are controversial.
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There are also unanswered questions about the federal government’s heat planning plans. The federal government wants to oblige the municipalities via the federal states to submit concrete heating plans in the coming years, exactly how they want to convert their heating infrastructure to be climate-neutral. Extensive building data is to be collected for this purpose. Read more about the draft law here.
“The planned deadlines for collecting the data will overwhelm the municipalities in terms of time and personnel,” said Bernd Düsterdiek from the Association of Towns and Municipalities of the “Rheinische Post” (Thursday). The district council made a similar statement. “In order to be able to implement the municipal heat supply at all, we need real openness to technology,” said Rainhard Sager, President of the German District Association, of the Funke Media Group (Thursday).
