Traffic light coalition does not hold a special session on the heating law

DThe traffic light coalition wants to pass the heating law only after the summer break after the temporary stop by the Federal Constitutional Court. The coalition factions want to apply for the next regular week of meetings at the beginning of September to put the second and third reading of the Building Energy Act on the agenda of the Bundestag, as the parliamentary group leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP announced on Thursday in Berlin. A special session during the summer break had previously been considered as an alternative.

Less than 48 hours before the actually planned parliamentary decision on the heating law, the Federal Constitutional Court stopped the project in an urgent procedure. The second and third reading in the Bundestag planned for this Friday morning should not take place during the current week of the session, the highest German court in Karlsruhe announced on Wednesday evening. It raised doubts that the rights of MPs were adequately protected in the deliberations.

CDU MP Thomas Heilmann had requested an injunction to prohibit the Bundestag from final deliberation and voting on the law if the bill was not submitted to MPs in writing at least 14 days in advance – which was not the case.

Heilmann argued that his rights as an MP had been seriously violated by the legislative process. “The traffic light is ruining the heat transition with a last-minute legislative package and an unconstitutional procedure,” he accused the coalition. Due to the shortened deliberations on the amendment to the law, no conceptual weaknesses in the legislative package could be identified and changed.

The Building Energy Act (GEG) – the so-called Heating Act – is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2024. There had been tough arguments about the novella for months. The FDP in particular had demanded fundamental improvements to the original draft law. Even before the first reading in the Bundestag, the traffic light agreed on further changes, which they set out in partly vaguely formulated “guard rails” – a very unusual procedure that led to an initial expert hearing on the original draft law, which was already outdated at the time.

In essence, the law provides that homeowners should be given more time to replace the heating system, which should make a significant contribution to more climate protection in the building sector.