After blocking regulation ending the sale of petrol and diesel cars in Europe and obtaining an e-fuel exemption in exchange for supporting the new rules, Germany can now do the same with the EU’s directive on the energy performance of buildings. It’s called the “case green” directive. Thus, he aligned himself with the positions of the government of Giorgia Meloni, which opposed the new law.
As Euractiv reports, the Liberal Democrats (FDP), led by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, as well as for cars, are pushing Berlin towards a new war front with Brussels. The German executive has Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) as the majority shareholder, but has to deal with the fragile balance between two smaller parties closer to the industry’s positions, the FDP, and the Greens pushing for parties instead. more ambitious environmental policies. For Sholz, the art of compromise has become the daily bread, and negotiations over majority houses are already intense.
As is well known, the European Commission has introduced legislation obliging Member States to provide incentives for the renovation of buildings in order to improve the energy performance of public or private (residential and commercial) building stocks. In Italy, the proposal triggered an immediate backlash from a broad business and party front, with the Meloni government leading the opposition in Brussels along with Poland and 13 other member states. Germany, on the other hand, has so far sided with the Commission, along with France and four other bloc states.
But Berlin can step back. Last week, the German government reached an agreement to ban a very valuable measure for the Greens, namely the installation of new fossil fuel boilers from 2024. Postponing the shutdown of the country’s last nuclear power plants until the end. In return, Euractiv says Lindner’s party will get Berlin to withdraw from the front in favor of the greenhouses directive. There are also prominent proponents of the Social Democrats, such as Construction Minister Klara Geywitz, who agrees with Lindner: “I don’t think it’s in line with the German constitution to make restructuring mandatory by law,” she said some time ago. .
Even Scholz himself seems concerned about the impact of this directive on German households, which are already facing a rise in energy prices. Ricarda Lang, leader of the Greens, reaffirmed her support for restructuring, conceding that the social consequences should be carefully considered. The fear of the coalition is to lose support given the next two-year election cycle: in fact, in 2024 there will be elections for the renewal of the European Parliament, in 2025 the Germans will go to the polls to renew the elections. parliament and government.
For this reason, the need to find a “third way” in the ecological transition that does not satisfy the voters who are more sensitive to environmental problems on the one hand, and does not create social ruptures into which the centre-right parties can insert themselves, on the other hand, arises. The compromise in Berlin could lead to significant changes in the Commission’s proposal. It also makes Italy happy.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
