Parliamentarians see tough road ahead for coal exit proposal

Grand coalition politicians’ first reactions to the coal commission proposal on how Germany could phase out the fossil fuel by 2038 at the latest show that the legislative process could prove difficult over the comings months, as government and lawmakers need to decide crucial details. “Politicians must now implement the proposal,” said Matthias Miersch, deputy head of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group in the Bundestag in an interview with public broadcaster SWR. The coal exit is also connected to the coalition’s goal to expand renewables to 65 percent of power consumption by 2030, which would require “some convincing with the CDU/CSU”, he said. Economy minister Altmaier “has to deliver” and for example raise Germany’s offshore wind expansion cap.
Economy policy spokesperson of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Joachim Pfeiffer said the agreed phase-out deal lacked crucial details. “The exact extent of the necessary financing for structural economic support, compensation payments and other measures is just as unclear as the effects of an early shutdown of power plants on supply security and power prices,” he told news agency dpa.