Nearly 70 percent of Germans view government energy policy negatively – survey

Over two thirds (69.1%) of people in Germany give the federal government’s energy policies a “rather negative” or “very negative” rating, according to a representative survey commissioned by clean energy provider naturstrom. More than half of the respondents (56.8%) said that the latest proposed reforms to Germany’s heating legislation create more planning insecurity for citizens, and the majority (53%) said considerations to remove state support for rooftop photovoltaic modules are wrong.

“The federal government pursues energy policies past the people,” said Oliver Hummel, chairman of the board of naturstrom. “The plans to put an abrupt stop to the solar power subsidies, and at the same time, lower requirements for the installation of new gas-powered heating systems are sending a fatal signal: This federal government is not taking the transformation [energy transition] seriously.”

When Friedrich Merz became chancellor in May last year, he promised to chart a new course for the country’s industrial and financial policy that would place competitiveness above decarbonisation efforts. Since then, criticism has mounted. In a poll from early December, 76 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the chancellor's work – the lowest popularity rating ever reached by his predecessor Olaf Scholz. The influential industry federation BDI said that many business leaders in the country were “disappointed beyond measure” with the government’s performance. According to the industry lobbyist, the government “somewhat lost the thread” in the last months of 2025, and failed to deliver both on deeper reforms and on symbolic gestures to signal a turnaround.

Energy reform plans have also been heavily criticised. Earlier this month, Merz’s government presented its proposal for amending Germany’s heating legislation. A core rule requiring new systems to run on at least 65 percent renewable energy is to be scrapped, and continued use of fossil fuel boilers would be allowed under the proposed reform, while subsidies for heat pumps would remain in place. The government argues the move will give homeowners greater freedom of choice when deciding on investments, while critics say the reform will complicate the move to climate neutral heating, cause uncertainties for industry, and lead to much higher costs for consumers.

Meanwhile, the economy ministry is discussing the abolition of support in the form of feed-in tariffs for small rooftop solar power systems. This could significantly reduce private investment in such systems and slow down the expansion of solar energy, according to an analysis by research institute Fraunhofer ISE. The ministry said that the technology has matured enough to compete without state support.