Traffic light dispute: FDP slows down truck combustion engine exit - and faces severe criticism

Baerbock: Germany Squanders Trust

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) lost her temper because of this. She made it clear that Germany's reliability in the EU is at stake and said: "If we break our word once given in Brussels, we squander trust." The chief negotiator of the European Parliament for the EU supply chain law, the Dutch MP Lara Wolters, said that the EU will try to form majorities around Germany and no longer take Germany at its word because of the behavior of the FDP.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has so far held back on the contentious issues – to save coalition peace? Last Thursday, the head of the "progress coalition" said with regard to the dispute over the EU supply chain law: "Progress is a snail."

Dispute in Economic and Financial Policy

There are other major chunks in the traffic light coalition. Although Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner agree on the analysis. Given the economic slump and structural problems such as a high tax burden and high energy prices compared to international standards, companies in Germany need to be relieved to be able to continue to compete in global markets.

But there are different ideas about what relief should look like. Habeck wants a billion-dollar debt-financed special fund to enable, for example, tax credits for investments in climate protection. A growth package planned by the federal government could be significantly battered in a mediation procedure between the Bundesrat and the Bundestag. But the FDP rejects more debt, as well as a reform of the debt brake. In addition to less bureaucracy, it proposes, among other things, the complete elimination of the solidarity surcharge, which is controversial among the SPD and the Greens.

There is also dispute on the issue of solar subsidies

But not only in economic and financial policy are there rifts in the coalition. In energy policy, too, much is unclear – for example, whether there should be support for solar companies so that they can continue to produce in Germany despite cheap competition from China. The FDP is also reluctant about plans from the Ministry of Agriculture led by Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) for a new consumer tax – an "animal welfare cent" as a price surcharge for meat in supermarkets to financially support farmers in restructuring livestock farming.

Greenpeace: Stop the Farce over Truck Emission Standards

SPD Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader Detlef Müller said it is common practice for the federal government to abstain from decisions in the EU if there is no consensus within the government. "It's annoying if initially approval for compromises in favor of Germany's interests is signaled, but then withdrawn at the last minute. This weakens trust in Germany and worsens our negotiating position. Politics is more than saying what is not possible." It must be above all reliable. "I expect constructive cooperation from our coalition partner here."

Philipp Türmer, Federal Chairman of the Jusos, criticized: "The FDP currently knows only one state, especially at the European level: blockade." The list of topics on which they are no longer even willing to negotiate is getting longer. "So far, this has mainly ensured that the self-proclaimed progress party is becoming a party of stagnation."

Greenpeace mobility expert Benjamin Stephan said: "It is high time that Olaf Scholz makes the FDP farce over truck emission standards a top priority. The Chancellor must stop this new backward move by the FDP before the party's staged blockades finally make Germany an unreliable wobbling candidate in the EU."