The European Union’s Green Deal plans are once again facing pushback from a junior party within Germany’s governing coalition.
(Bloomberg) — The European Union’s Green Deal plans are once again facing pushback from a junior party within Germany’s governing coalition.
Christian Lindner, Germany’s finance minister and chairman of the pro-business FDP party, signaled his opposition to more climate ambition under the bloc’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive — rules designed to bring one of the most energy-intensive sectors in line with its climate-neutrality objectives.
“If the efficiency standards currently being considered had to be implemented, this would mean many billions of euros in additional costs for Germany within a few years,” Lindner said in an interview with the German magazine WirtschaftsWoche published Thursday. “I don’t think further increases are necessary for climate policy or economically viable.”
The intervention comes just weeks after the FDP almost brought down rules designed to effectively ban the sale of new combustion-engine cars in the EU from 2035, and highlights growing concern around the cost of the transition to climate neutrality by the middle of the century. Lindner’s remarks could also inflame tensions with the two other parties in Germany’s ruling coalition, most notably the Greens.
A spokesperson for the Economy Ministry, led by Greens Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, said it was too early to comment as discussions on the proposal in the EU are still ongoing.
Other countries, like Italy, have also signaled concern about the EU building proposals.
Read more: Europe’s EV Push Nearly Faltered Over Fuels That Are Years Away
Lindner said that German subsidies for more sustainable forms of heating should be “technology-neutral,” geared around the system being replaced rather than what will be installed. The aim isn’t to subsidize “individual technologies or manufacturers,” such as heat pumps, he said.
The European Parliament is pushing for all new buildings to be zero-emission from 2028 in negotiations with member states on the final shape of the regulation, two years earlier than the Commission’s original proposal. Lawmakers also want existing residential and non-residential buildings to be renovated at a faster rate.
“At the end of the day, this directive is about protecting households from increased fuel prices and saving money for families in the long term,” said Ciaran Cuffe, the European Greens lawmaker who is leading negotiations for parliament, in response to Lindner’s comments.
Buildings are responsible for around 40% of EU energy consumption, making them the single largest consumer of energy and a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
–With assistance from Petra Sorge.
(Updates with Economy Ministry comment in fifth paragraph, EU lawmaker reaction in ninth)
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