The FDP accuses Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) of using incorrect numbers when calculating the costs for the heating replacement by German citizens.
As the “Bild” newspaper reports, according to the latest calculations by the liberals, people in Germany will face additional costs of more than 600 billion euros by 2045 as part of the reform of the Building Energy Act (GEG) – and not 130 billion as estimated by Habeck.
Habeck must now “put the true figures for his law on the table,” said the deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Christoph Meyer, to “Bild”.
“We need cost transparency from Habeck, otherwise consultations in the Bundestag make little sense,” Meyer continued. Habeck had to “say how expensive it would be for people”. There is a “huge difference” between 100 billion and 600 billion euros, said Meyer.
The energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Kruse, accused Habeck of using “unsound” figures in an interview with “Bild”. It is “worrying that the Ministry of Economic Affairs is getting involved in more and more contradictions in its own figures”. The law must “back to the assembly hall”.
Habeck’s plans envisage that from 2024, new heating systems should generally only be installed if at least 65 percent of the heat is generated by renewable energies. In practice, the GEG reform amounts to a ban on new oil and gas heating systems.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) only approved the decision in the Federal Cabinet with reservations in April. The bill is now being debated in Parliament. (AFP)
