“It was worth it,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tweeted a while ago, referring to the marathon meeting of the leadership of the governing coalition (SPD, Greens, FDP), which resulted in a 16-page position paper “to protect climate and the acceleration of planning”.

Climate legislation is being relaxed, the economy ministry’s plan to phase out oil and gas burners from 2024 is being downgraded, while truck tolls are being raised to fund rail investment from the revenue.

The meeting of the leadership of the three partners began on Sunday afternoon, was interrupted the next morning for the chancellor and some ministers to go to the Netherlands, and continued today, with the aim of smoothing the differences between the parties on fundamental issues of government planning, which here and had long since become public.

Regarding the ambitious plan of the “green” vice-chancellor Robert Hambeck, for the mandatory replacement of oil and natural gas burners in the heating of buildings, the final text states that “there will be no obligation to replace existing heating burners, but only specifications for new installations ” and speaks of an “open approach to technology”, pointed out Liberal Party (FDP) leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner – one of the strongest critics of Mr Hambeck’s plan. Last year the government agreed that from January 1, 2024 every heating system to be installed must operate at least 65% with energy from a renewable source and the relevant draft law of the ministries of Economy and Housing and Urban Development has caused intense protests in recent weeks. reactions. Now it is pointed out that if e.g. heating burners can run on green gas (green or blue hydrogen), they should be allowed to continue to run. There will also be more transition periods to replace the burners, but also generous funding. “We will not leave anyone behind,” assured Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Lars Klingbeil.

According to the decisions of the government partners, truck tolls will be increased so that there is more room to finance investment in the railways. 80% of toll revenue will go towards expanding the network, Greens leader Ricarda Lange said and estimated the railways’ funding needs by 2027 at €45 billion.

Tonight’s agreement also includes the expansion of the highway network, which, however, should be accompanied by a corresponding expansion of solar energy for their lighting. “Not a single kilometer of highway should be built without exhausting the possibilities of installing renewable energy sources,” the agreement document emphasizes. In addition, from 2030, only zero-emission vehicles will be allowed to be purchased for public fleets and, in order to reach the target of 15 million electric cars on German roads by 2030, the infrastructure of charging stations will be expanded, with the installation of fast chargers at gas stations

Germany’s goal for climate neutrality remains in 2045, the government partners point out, but they will aim for “negative” emissions already for the years 2035, 2040 and 2045. As specified, from now on the emissions situation should be controlled with “multi-year overall calculation’ and not by looking at performance in individual areas.

The government will also seek to promote the faster installation of renewable energy sources and in this context will give municipalities more powers to approve e.g. onshore wind turbines. Among other things, the local government should be able to designate areas for wind farms, even if this is not provided for in the plans of the area