Disagreements within the German government over the coalition’s heating law continue. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) said on Sunday evening on ARD that the Building Energy Act (GEG) would “essentially remain as it is,” adding that the federal government would continue to support the switch to climate-friendly heating systems.
However, CSU leader Markus Söder said on ZDF that the guiding principle was: “The heating law will be abolished.” He argued that the “complete over-subsidization” must be drastically reduced.
According to the coalition agreement, the controversial heating law of the governing coalition is to be “abolished.” In practice, however, this refers more to a reform of the Building Energy Act (GEG), since both the CDU/CSU and SPD intend to “continue the support for renovation and heating.” The legal requirements, they say, should become “more open to different technologies, more flexible, and simpler.”
In ARD’s “Bericht aus Berlin” program, Minister Schneider said regarding the climate-friendly heating replacement: “You can receive up to 70% in subsidies if you have a low income, and we will maintain that.” He added that the success of heat pumps showed that “depoliticization is beneficial: quietly, the incentive to invest in sustainable technologies works.” Schneider noted that the number of heat pumps installed had recently surpassed that of gas heating systems.
Speaking on ZDF’s “Berlin direkt”, Söder said that heat pumps would continue to be used in Germany, “that’s not wrong; it’s a good idea.” However, he criticized the way the idea had been implemented under former Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and the coalition government, saying it had been “so massively and excessively financed and subsidized” that heat pumps in Germany had become more expensive than in other countries.
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