2023-11-01 12:37:05
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Wednesday deemed the government’s goal of closing the country’s coal-fired power plants in 2030 unrealistic given the industry’s need for cheap energy.
“Until it is clear that energy is available and affordable, we should end dreams of phasing out coal-fired electricity in 2030,” party leader said liberal (FDP) in an interview with the Cologne daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
In their coalition agreement, the three parties in government since the end of 2021 have set themselves the objective of bringing forward to 2030 “ideally” the phase-out of coal initially planned for 2038.
“This date is of no use for the climate anyway, because the CO2 emissions saved in Germany can be generated elsewhere, in Poland for example, due to European rules,” he added.
Germany was widely criticized for having temporarily restarted coal-fired power plants doomed to closure last year in order to face the risks of gas shortages caused by the interruption of Russian deliveries, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
These statements from the German government’s big financier, also critical of the closure of the last German nuclear power plants, once again illustrate the divisions within the team of Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who governs with the Greens and the Liberals.
Measures to help German industry, weakened by high energy prices, are one of the points of contention with the Minister of the Economy, the ecologist Robert Habeck.
The latter, supported by the industrial world, has been advocating for months to cap the price of electricity for energy-intensive industries such as chemicals or steel, a measure that Mr. Lindner refuses, because it would involve additional expenses.
“We do not ensure the competitiveness of the economy with subsidies paid by citizens,” retorted Wednesday the minister committed to budgetary rigor.
He also remains opposed to the idea of contracting more public debt to support the industrial sector, defended by Mr. Habeck. Debt is subject in Germany to the constitutional rule of the “debt brake” which prohibits the State from borrowing more than 0.35% of its GDP each year.
“The debt brake is the inflation brake,” defended Mr. Lindner.
He says he is open to electricity tax compensation for energy-intensive companies.
The German economy, largely dependent on its industry, expects to suffer a recession for the year 2023.
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