The meeting of the EU finance ministers was supposed to go off without a hitch. After all, the member states had already agreed on the joint declaration on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact in advance. But then German Finance Minister Christian Lindner arrived and demanded changes to the text. He urged the Commission to consult the member states once again before submitting its legislative proposals to reform the budget rules. His demands were partly successful, but they also antagonized a number of colleagues, as Till Hoppe and Christof Roche report.
Lindner’s behavior is reminiscent of the sudden no vote by party colleague and Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing against the already negotiated fleet limits for new cars, including the internal combustion engine phase-out. MP Emma Wiesner made an urgent appeal against this blockade this week. Her appearance was remarkable – not only because the Renew politician belongs to the same party family as the FDP. The Swede voiced her criticism in German, and very clearly, as you can read in Lukas Scheid‘s Apéro.
In today’s News, you can also find out why Romanian MEP Nicolae Ștefănuțăleft the Liberals to join the Green Group.
Easier access for SMEs to long-term electricity supply contracts for renewable power plants, more choice in electricity supply contracts for households, better European integration of national electricity wholesale markets: These are three points from the proposal for electricity market reform presented by the Commission yesterday. It no longer includes any consideration of location criteria – the politically sensitive issue would have caused fierce controversy in Germany. Manuel Berkel provides an overview.
Your Sarah Schaefer
Feature
Ecofin: Lindner’s late intervention causes frustration
The meeting of EU finance ministers actually promised to be an unagitated discussion, after all, the member states had already agreed on the joint declaration on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact in advance. However, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner ensured that things turned out differently: In Brussels, thehead of the FDP called for changes to the text, thereby antagonizing a number of colleagues.
Lindner urged in particular that the EU Commission should consult the member states once again before submitting its legislative proposals on reforming the budget rules. After all, it is not only the Finance Ministry in the German government that has considerable reservations about the Commission’s ideas.
However, several other countries fear that thiscould significantly delay the reform. It is not only the governments in southern Europe that fear considerable consolidation pressure if the currently suspended rules of the Stability Pact take effect again from 2023. Especially since Lindner wants to prevent the Commission from making its recommendations already on the basis of the envisaged new rules.
Verbal exchange
The Federal Minister of Finance also partially prevailed with this on Tuesday. Thus, the final conclusions call on the Commission to “consider the converging views of the member states before publishing its legislative proposals”.
However, Lindner’s late intervention did not only anger his French colleague Bruno Le Maire. According to EU diplomats, Lindner exchanged verbal blows with Spain’s Economy Minister Nadia Calviño. Officials from countries that are politically close to Berlin also criticized the action.
The reactions were also sometimes fierce because there have recently been an increasing number of cases where FDP ministers, in particular, have flouted Brussels practices. Transport Minister Volker Wissing’s late no vote is known to have prevented the final adoption of the already negotiated fleet limits for new cars, including the 2035 phase-out of internal combustion engines. In other dossiers, too, such as the directive on women in management positions or platform work, liberal ministers caused delays in the EU decision-making process with belated interventions.
‘The unfathomable secrets of the coalition’
“The unfathomable secrets of the German coalition mean that you have an agreement and then ultimately no agreement,” an EU diplomat said yesterday. An approach like Lindner’s is counterproductive for the institutional processes in the EU, criticized a representative of another member state. In fairness, however, Berlin had to be given credit for the fact that Germany had agreed to the conclusions at the level of the state secretaries and EU ambassadors but had expressed a need for further talks.
Lindner, on the other hand, stressed after the finance ministers’ deliberations that there had been “a considerable number of member states” who were concerned “that their comments and concerns were not being given sufficient consideration.” He sees a need for action, among other things, for the debt sustainability analysis as well as numericalbenchmarks to support the debt rules.
Proposals from Germany
The minister said that if a member country deviates from the agreed budget path, for example, it must be clear when this still falls within the Commission’s discretionary powers and at what point the Council must become involved. Germany would quickly submit its own proposals to the Commission.
Other areas where clarification is needed include the principles for extending the fiscal path, the role of country-specific recommendations, and the enforcement of national plans and incentives for reform and investment. The member states also agreed to complete the realignment of the fiscal framework by the end of the year.
Dombrovskis sets the pace
Different signals came from the Commission following the deliberations. Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed that the Commission would meet with the member states in the coming weeks and months to discuss the outstanding issues. He added that there was still “considerable work to be done by all concerned”.
Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis also stressed the Commission’s willingness to engage in dialogue with the member states. At the same time, however, he signaled that the Commission still wanted to present its legislative package soon after the EU summit, which is scheduled for March 23-24. This was necessary to achieve the goal of completing the reform by the end of the year.
Legal service rejects Commission
With regard to the 2024 budgetary guidelines, Dombrovskis said the Commission would include only those elements of the planned reform for the country-specific recommendations “that are compatible with the current legal framework.”
With a view to the budgetary policy direction in the coming year, Lindner had also strongly criticized the Commission: It could not include in the recommendations any elements of the reform that had not yet been legally adopted, he argued.
According to the minister, the Commission’s proposal to bring forward parts of the reform of the debt rules via the recommendations was met with a severe defeat in the Eurogroup. During the meeting, the Legal Service had made it clear that such a mix-up was not possible under any circumstances. At the moment, only the existing Stability and Growth Pact is relevant. Till Hoppe and Christof Roche
European policy
Financial policy
Flottengrenzwerte
Stability Pact
Electricity market: Commission renounces local control
Yesterday, the EU Commission presented its proposals for reforming the electricity market. Instead of a departure from the previous market design, the package on electricity market design only provides for selective further developments of previous directives and regulations:
easier access for SMEs to long-term power supply contracts for renewable power plants (PPAs)
the conversion of state subsidies for new renewable plants and nuclear power plants to bilateral contracts for difference (CfD) and thus a permanent possibility to skim off excess revenues, at least from new plants
more transparency and choice in electricity supply contracts for households
the right to share green electricity for household customers
tighter supervision and better European integration of national wholesale electricity markets
facilitation of storage and load management to prevent expensive electricity peaks, which are currently mostly covered by gas-fired power plants
Location criteria removed, risks for electricity customers remain
By contrast, the Commission removed a rather specific but politically sensitive issue from earlier drafts. When investing in new generations, member states were originally supposed to consider locational criteria to ensure that “new investments are made in optimal locations that do not create or exacerbate congestion in the electricity grid“. In the official version presented yesterday, the Commission deleted this and other requirements for “locational criteria”. For Germany, in particular, insisting on locational criteria would have had far-reaching consequences.
Grid bottlenecks exist, above all, in the transport of electricity from north to south. Wind power pushes from the North German Plain to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, but the turbines have to be shut down because the lines are too weak, resulting in high costs. In extreme cases, location criteria could have resulted in fewer new onshore or even offshore wind farms being built in northern Germany. The industry would have had to wait for the slow expansion of the grids.
The danger now, however, is that electricity customers will have to pay even higher compensation to wind millers if grid expansion continues to limp along. It remains to be seen what impetus the Climate Neutral Electricity System platform of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs will provide for better local control of renewable expansion.
Renewable energy association wants to secure excess revenues
However, the German renewables industry is still strongly opposed to the obligation to conclude contracts for differences. The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) apparently wants to secure lucrative excess revenues in times of high electricity prices. “Flexibility and acceptance are created by the existing sliding market premium, not a rigid, risky CfD support framework,” BEE President Simone Peter said yesterday. She is supported in this by the Left Party in the EU Parliament. According to the Greens, they expect feed-in tariffs to remain allowed.
After initial reluctance, the EPPyesterdaysignaled awillingness to push the Commission’s proposal through Parliament quickly. “It is positive that the Commission has taken a rather cautious approach, resisting calls to change the merit order principle or even to institutionalize the emergency measure of a price cap,” said ITRE coordinator Christian Ehler. Now, he said, “it may make sense to address this reform with an accelerated legislative process.”
Consumers to be able to have multiple electricity contracts
Consumer advocates also viewed the proposal positively. For example, socially vulnerable consumers who cannot pay their electricity bills would no longerhave to fear that their electricity would be cut off, said BEUC Secretary General Monique Goyens. In addition, she said, it would be ensured that suppliers could not raise tariffs in fixed-price contracts again during crises.
It will be interesting to see how energy distributors and customers take to the Commission’s proposal that householdsshould beable to conclude several supply contracts at the same time. The authority hopes that this will lead to greater reliability through fixed-price contracts for part of the consumption and the exploitation of periods of low electricity prices, for example, to charge EVs.
However, the municipal utilities oppose a specific incentive for more flexible demand. “The network fees reflect the fixed costs of the network operators and should not bevariable over time for reasons of fairness in causation,” said VKU CEO Ingbert Liebing. In addition, the publication of network data poses security risks.
Electricity market
Electricity price
Natural gas
Renewable energies
News
Energy efficiency: EU Parliament wants mandatory renovation of old buildings
The EU Parliament has voted in favor of stricter requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings. Specifically, residential buildings are toachieveat least energy efficiency class “E” by 2030 and “D” by 2033. Similar to household appliances, energy efficiency is to be indicated on a scale from “A” to “G”. In addition, the deputies spoke out on Tuesday with 343 votes in favor, 216 against and 78 abstentions in favor of the fact that from 2028 only houses should bebuilt, through which virtually no additional greenhouse gases are emitted.
The MEPs have thus cleared the way for negotiations with the EU member states on the project. The national governments had already agreed on their position in October.
Possible high costs for homeowners
The project had recently been the subject of controversy because of the possible high costs for homeowners. There was even talk of “forced renovations“. “This will overburden homeowners,” said Markus Pieper of the CDU, for example. German MEP Jutta Paulus of the Green Party, on the other hand, stressed: “The goal for the upcoming negotiations is to massively reduce the energy consumption of buildings and to protect consumers’ wallets.”
After the vote, MEP Jens Geier emphasized that the path to climate neutrality must be social. “Financially weaker households should be protected from cost pressure. The draft directive explicitly provides for this,” said the SPD politician. CDU member of parliament and social policy expert Dennis Radtke sees it differently: “There is obviously no antenna for the social realities anymore.” dpa
Climate & Environment
Energy
European policy
Fit for 55: Parliament adopts trilogue results
On Tuesday, the EU Parliament approved the trilogue results of three legislative proposals of the Fit for 55 package. The final vote in the Council is now all that is needed for the legislative proposals on:
land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF),
distribution of emission reduction targets among the individual member states, so-called effort sharing
and the Market Stability Reserve of the EU Emissions Trading System
to appear in the Official Journal of the EU and become legally binding.
With the new LULUCF regulation, new rules for natural CO2 sinks are introduced in the EU. By 2030, the sinking capacity is supposed tobe increased by15 percent to 310 million tons of CO2 equivalent. As this target is higher than agreed in the EU Climate Change Act of 2021 (225 million tons), there is a possibility that the EU will raise its climate target of 55 percent CO2 reduction by 2030 deposited with the UN.
The revised Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) sets binding reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions for each EU country individually. For Germany, the target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2005. On average, EU countriesmustreducetheir emissions by 40 percent.
ETS reform to be voted on in April
The ESR applies to sectors not covered by the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) – currently, around 60 percent of all EU emissions. These include road transport, building heating, agriculture, smaller industrial plants and waste management sectors. However, some of the sectors are expected to be included in emissions trading in the coming years as part of the ETS reform. The EU Parliament will not vote on the trilogue agreement on ETS reform until the April session week.
The Market Stability Reserve (MSR) is part of the ETS. However, its revision was negotiated and voted on in a separate legislative proposal. The MSR regulates the reduction of surpluses of emission allowances in the ETS in order to minimize price volatility in the CO2 market. By the end of 2030, 24 percent of unsold allowances will transfer to the MSR each year, or at least 200 million allowances. In 2031, the take-up rate drops again to 12 percent and the minimum number to 100 million allowances. luk
Agriculture
Climate & Environment
Fit for 55
Green Deal
LULUCF
Parliament gives mandate for trilogue on Data Act
On Tuesday, the European Parliament gave a strong mandate for the Data Act trilogue. In plenary, 500 MEPs voted in favor of the bill proposed by lead rapporteurPilar del Castillo Vera (EPP). 23 parliamentarians voted against and 110 abstained. Now the Parliament is waiting for the Council to adopt a General Approach in order to start negotiations. According to information from Table.Media, this will be the case next week.
The Commission had presented its proposal for the Data Act in February 2022. The aim is to create a European market for data and promote innovation. In doing so, the Data Act lays down rules for the exchange and sharing of data that people or machines generate when they use connected products. Examples include data from wind turbines, smart home appliances, vehicles or related services.
“The Data Act will be a game-changer, providing access to an almost infinite amount of high-quality industry data,” del Castillo said.
BDI: Data Act ‘is still a long way from being ready for completion’
However, the industry’s reactionto the Parliament’s draft wasdivided. Many associations said it was better than the Commission’s proposal but not yet what they wanted. In Germany, the question of the extent to which trade secretsareprotected is particularly controversial.
For example, Iris Plöger, a member of the BDI Executive Board, called the Data Act a fundamental intervention in the rules of the European data economy. If the intended data-sharing obligations were to come into effect, research and innovation in Europewould beslowed down. Plöger criticized that numerous substantive issues have not yet been clarified. This would lead to legal uncertainties. In terms of content, the Data Act is still far from being ready for finalization.
At least Plöger stated that the Parliament had gone in the right direction – without, however, addressing the fundamental problems of the Commission’s proposal. As such, the BDI considers the “legitimate protection of trade secrets”. This must be maintained. A genuine exemption from a data provision obligation must be included. vis
Data Act
Digital policy
European Parliament
Trilog
Stricter lobbying rules for former MEPs
As a consequence of the EU corruption scandal, the European Parliament wants to tighten lobbying rules for departed MEPs. In the future, they will only be allowed to work as lobbyists in the Parliament after a so-called cooling-off period of six months, according to a statement from the EU Parliament on Tuesday. This was agreed in principle by the responsible body on Monday evening. The plan is to be formally adopted in April.
It is planned that during the six-month period, for example, former members of Parliament will not be allowed to enter parliamentary buildings to lobby. After that, according to the plans, they must wear a special ID card in Parliament.
The bribery scandal, which became public at the end of 2022, involves alleged influence on decisions of the EU Parliament by Qatar and Morocco. The defendants are accused by the public prosecutor of corruption, money laundering and membership in a criminal organization. The alleged mastermind, Antonio Panzeri, was a member of the EU Parliament for many years before founding a non-governmental organization. dpa
Corruption
European Parliament
Eva Kaili
Lobbying
Liberal MEP joins the Greens
Romanian MEPNicolae Ștefănuță left the Liberals and officially joined the Green Group yesterday. Earlier, French MEP Pascal Durand moved from the Renew Group to the S&D Group. These moves come at a time when parties are beginning to position themselves in view of the 2024 European elections.
“My affiliation with the Greens has a strong symbolic meaning because I am the first MEP from Romania to belong to this group,” Nicolae Ștefănuță said when asked by Table.Media. In addition to the fight against climate change and the protection of forests in Romania, he said it is also“very important” for him to defend the correct use of European funds for the Green Deal.
Romanians lose influence in the Renew Group
The MEP also stressed the new potential for industry that he believes the Green Deal offers. “An example of this is the car industry in Germany, which is linked to that in Romania, and the Green Deal we are building together must also be present in Romania,” he said.
The Renew Group regrets Nicolae Ștefănuță’s move. “It is a personal decision, not an ideological one,” Renew parliamentary group spokesman Stéphane Séjourné told Table.Media. Pascal Durand, on the other hand, had explained his departure from the Renew parliamentary group by saying that the Swedish Liberals are in a governing coalition with the far-right Sweden Democrats.
The Romanian delegation within Renew is split into two camps, says a political source in Brussels. This means that the delegation is losing influence within the group, even though it had put Dacian Cioloș at the head of Renew in 2019.
Greens want to win over southern countries
The Green Group is currently trying to gain more influence in the southern countries of the European Union – countries where the party is currently performing far worse than in northern Europe.
For example, Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the Italian 5 Stars party, visited the Green Group last week at its request, according to Philippe Lamberts, co-chair of the group. “Our wish is for strong progressive and Green forces to work together to confront the extreme right across Europe,” Lamberts said.
It is “clear” that the political family of the Greens is “a partner in demand,” said Lamberts. Not only in Italy but also in countries like Romania. cst
European Parliament
Renew
Heads
Axel Schäfer – SPD veteran
Axel Schäfer has been involved in politics for over fifty years.
In 1992, Axel Schäfer traveled to Armenia after an earthquake to bring medical supplies to hospitals. “When you look people in the eye, you can feel the human commonality,” says the politician, who has been a member of the SPD since 1969 and a member of the Bundestag since 2002.
In general, the 70-year-old, whom the media also call an SPD veteran, likes to be right in the thick of things. Throughout his long career, he has experienced many moving moments: In 1989, he traveled to Berlin directly after the Wall’s fall to cheer with the masses. In 2004, he postponed Christmas to be an election observer in Ukraine. And in 2015, he traveled to Paris the night after the attack on the editorial offices of “Charlie Hebdo” to offer support to the people on the streets.
Insights into geriatric care
Once a year, Schäfer completes a one-week internship. “When you have appointments 365 days a year as a professional politician, you have to experience the real life of the vast majority of people in between.”
In the past 26 years, he has been able to take on a wide variety of roles – from geriatric nurse to street cleaner to railroad service employee. That’s precisely why he never gave a thought to turning his back on politics. As a politician, he gets an extraordinary amount of input and the chance to shape his own life. Schäfer lives in Bochum, is married, has a son and two grandchildren.
Showing solidarity for Ukraine
In his political assessments, he often refers to historical models and events. At the same time, he emphasizes that history can be interpreted in different political ways. For example, Putin invaded Ukraine because the dissolution of the Soviet Union was, in his view, the biggest historical mistake that needs to be corrected.
“You can see this action as a restoration of Russian legal space or as an imperial fever fantasy,” Schäfer says. But one must not forget that people are dying in this war, he adds. That’s why it’s important to him, above all, to show the world, for example, at solidarity events, “We Germans continue to be a very peace-loving people and we support Ukraine.”
European unification as most important national interest
He associates progress with the history of European unification and those countries that are now pushing to become members. He is concerned with the electoral successes of Euroskeptics and right-wing nationalist post-fascists in countries like Sweden, Poland, Italy and Hungary.
“Where the paternoster goes up on one side, it goes down on the other,” he says, adding – with reference to Joschka Fischer – that the most important national interest is still European unification. Janna Degener-Storr
European policy
Apéro
In plain German
Swedish Renew MP Emma Wiesner called on the FDP to end its blockade on the combustion engine phase-out.
Emma Wiesner speaks German – very clear German, in fact, as the Swedish Renew MEP proved on Monday evening in the EU Parliament. The fact that Wiesner presented her language skills in such a high-profile way was due to the addressee of her words. She sits in Berlin, in the federal government – more precisely: in the FDP. “I’m speaking as a Swede, as a parliamentarian, as a young European, as a liberal: Please stand up for the Fit for 55 package and stop blocking key elements like the combustion engine phase-out.”
Wiesner called directly on the FDP to stop blocking the tightening of EU fleet limits and the associated phase-out of internal combustion vehicles in 2035. Because that would harm climate action. “I really never thought I would have to explain the value of climate action measures to Germany.” But when the future of the Fit for 55 package is at stake, it requires “extreme measures,” she said.
‘Fit for 55 is fragile’
What makes Wiesner’s appeal so forceful is that she belongs to the same European party family as the FDP. It is “absolutely irresponsible” to block already agreed legislative proposals in the Council, she criticized, warning, “Fit for 55 is fragile and in a fragile balance. Take out one critical piece and it collapses.” She was alluding to the fact that other countries could change their minds at the last minute. So all the negotiating successes of the past months would still be on the line.
Whether Wiesner’s words had the desired effect remains to be seen. However, she was congratulated by the chairwoman of the meeting for her “excellent German”.
The leader of the liberal Renew Group, Stéphane Séjourné, also expressed on Tuesday incomprehension for the attitude of the FDP. Lukas Scheid
The meeting of the EU finance ministers was supposed to go off without a hitch. After all, the member states had already agreed on the joint declaration on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact in advance. But then German Finance Minister Christian Lindner arrived and demanded changes to the text. He urged the Commission to consult the member states once again before submitting its legislative proposals to reform the budget rules. His demands were partly successful, but they also antagonized a number of colleagues, as Till Hoppe and Christof Roche report.
Lindner’s behavior is reminiscent of the sudden no vote by party colleague and Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing against the already negotiated fleet limits for new cars, including the internal combustion engine phase-out. MP Emma Wiesner made an urgent appeal against this blockade this week. Her appearance was remarkable – not only because the Renew politician belongs to the same party family as the FDP. The Swede voiced her criticism in German, and very clearly, as you can read in Lukas Scheid‘s Apéro.
In today’s News, you can also find out why Romanian MEP Nicolae Ștefănuțăleft the Liberals to join the Green Group.
Easier access for SMEs to long-term electricity supply contracts for renewable power plants, more choice in electricity supply contracts for households, better European integration of national electricity wholesale markets: These are three points from the proposal for electricity market reform presented by the Commission yesterday. It no longer includes any consideration of location criteria – the politically sensitive issue would have caused fierce controversy in Germany. Manuel Berkel provides an overview.
Your Sarah Schaefer
Feature
Ecofin: Lindner’s late intervention causes frustration
The meeting of EU finance ministers actually promised to be an unagitated discussion, after all, the member states had already agreed on the joint declaration on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact in advance. However, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner ensured that things turned out differently: In Brussels, thehead of the FDP called for changes to the text, thereby antagonizing a number of colleagues.
Lindner urged in particular that the EU Commission should consult the member states once again before submitting its legislative proposals on reforming the budget rules. After all, it is not only the Finance Ministry in the German government that has considerable reservations about the Commission’s ideas.
However, several other countries fear that thiscould significantly delay the reform. It is not only the governments in southern Europe that fear considerable consolidation pressure if the currently suspended rules of the Stability Pact take effect again from 2023. Especially since Lindner wants to prevent the Commission from making its recommendations already on the basis of the envisaged new rules.
Verbal exchange
The Federal Minister of Finance also partially prevailed with this on Tuesday. Thus, the final conclusions call on the Commission to “consider the converging views of the member states before publishing its legislative proposals”.
However, Lindner’s late intervention did not only anger his French colleague Bruno Le Maire. According to EU diplomats, Lindner exchanged verbal blows with Spain’s Economy Minister Nadia Calviño. Officials from countries that are politically close to Berlin also criticized the action.
The reactions were also sometimes fierce because there have recently been an increasing number of cases where FDP ministers, in particular, have flouted Brussels practices. Transport Minister Volker Wissing’s late no vote is known to have prevented the final adoption of the already negotiated fleet limits for new cars, including the 2035 phase-out of internal combustion engines. In other dossiers, too, such as the directive on women in management positions or platform work, liberal ministers caused delays in the EU decision-making process with belated interventions.
‘The unfathomable secrets of the coalition’
“The unfathomable secrets of the German coalition mean that you have an agreement and then ultimately no agreement,” an EU diplomat said yesterday. An approach like Lindner’s is counterproductive for the institutional processes in the EU, criticized a representative of another member state. In fairness, however, Berlin had to be given credit for the fact that Germany had agreed to the conclusions at the level of the state secretaries and EU ambassadors but had expressed a need for further talks.
Lindner, on the other hand, stressed after the finance ministers’ deliberations that there had been “a considerable number of member states” who were concerned “that their comments and concerns were not being given sufficient consideration.” He sees a need for action, among other things, for the debt sustainability analysis as well as numericalbenchmarks to support the debt rules.
Proposals from Germany
The minister said that if a member country deviates from the agreed budget path, for example, it must be clear when this still falls within the Commission’s discretionary powers and at what point the Council must become involved. Germany would quickly submit its own proposals to the Commission.
Other areas where clarification is needed include the principles for extending the fiscal path, the role of country-specific recommendations, and the enforcement of national plans and incentives for reform and investment. The member states also agreed to complete the realignment of the fiscal framework by the end of the year.
Dombrovskis sets the pace
Different signals came from the Commission following the deliberations. Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed that the Commission would meet with the member states in the coming weeks and months to discuss the outstanding issues. He added that there was still “considerable work to be done by all concerned”.
Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis also stressed the Commission’s willingness to engage in dialogue with the member states. At the same time, however, he signaled that the Commission still wanted to present its legislative package soon after the EU summit, which is scheduled for March 23-24. This was necessary to achieve the goal of completing the reform by the end of the year.
Legal service rejects Commission
With regard to the 2024 budgetary guidelines, Dombrovskis said the Commission would include only those elements of the planned reform for the country-specific recommendations “that are compatible with the current legal framework.”
With a view to the budgetary policy direction in the coming year, Lindner had also strongly criticized the Commission: It could not include in the recommendations any elements of the reform that had not yet been legally adopted, he argued.
According to the minister, the Commission’s proposal to bring forward parts of the reform of the debt rules via the recommendations was met with a severe defeat in the Eurogroup. During the meeting, the Legal Service had made it clear that such a mix-up was not possible under any circumstances. At the moment, only the existing Stability and Growth Pact is relevant. Till Hoppe and Christof Roche
European policy
Financial policy
Flottengrenzwerte
Stability Pact
Electricity market: Commission renounces local control
Yesterday, the EU Commission presented its proposals for reforming the electricity market. Instead of a departure from the previous market design, the package on electricity market design only provides for selective further developments of previous directives and regulations:
easier access for SMEs to long-term power supply contracts for renewable power plants (PPAs)
the conversion of state subsidies for new renewable plants and nuclear power plants to bilateral contracts for difference (CfD) and thus a permanent possibility to skim off excess revenues, at least from new plants
more transparency and choice in electricity supply contracts for households
the right to share green electricity for household customers
tighter supervision and better European integration of national wholesale electricity markets
facilitation of storage and load management to prevent expensive electricity peaks, which are currently mostly covered by gas-fired power plants
Location criteria removed, risks for electricity customers remain
By contrast, the Commission removed a rather specific but politically sensitive issue from earlier drafts. When investing in new generations, member states were originally supposed to consider locational criteria to ensure that “new investments are made in optimal locations that do not create or exacerbate congestion in the electricity grid“. In the official version presented yesterday, the Commission deleted this and other requirements for “locational criteria”. For Germany, in particular, insisting on locational criteria would have had far-reaching consequences.
Grid bottlenecks exist, above all, in the transport of electricity from north to south. Wind power pushes from the North German Plain to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, but the turbines have to be shut down because the lines are too weak, resulting in high costs. In extreme cases, location criteria could have resulted in fewer new onshore or even offshore wind farms being built in northern Germany. The industry would have had to wait for the slow expansion of the grids.
The danger now, however, is that electricity customers will have to pay even higher compensation to wind millers if grid expansion continues to limp along. It remains to be seen what impetus the Climate Neutral Electricity System platform of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs will provide for better local control of renewable expansion.
Renewable energy association wants to secure excess revenues
However, the German renewables industry is still strongly opposed to the obligation to conclude contracts for differences. The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) apparently wants to secure lucrative excess revenues in times of high electricity prices. “Flexibility and acceptance are created by the existing sliding market premium, not a rigid, risky CfD support framework,” BEE President Simone Peter said yesterday. She is supported in this by the Left Party in the EU Parliament. According to the Greens, they expect feed-in tariffs to remain allowed.
After initial reluctance, the EPPyesterdaysignaled awillingness to push the Commission’s proposal through Parliament quickly. “It is positive that the Commission has taken a rather cautious approach, resisting calls to change the merit order principle or even to institutionalize the emergency measure of a price cap,” said ITRE coordinator Christian Ehler. Now, he said, “it may make sense to address this reform with an accelerated legislative process.”
Consumers to be able to have multiple electricity contracts
Consumer advocates also viewed the proposal positively. For example, socially vulnerable consumers who cannot pay their electricity bills would no longerhave to fear that their electricity would be cut off, said BEUC Secretary General Monique Goyens. In addition, she said, it would be ensured that suppliers could not raise tariffs in fixed-price contracts again during crises.
It will be interesting to see how energy distributors and customers take to the Commission’s proposal that householdsshould beable to conclude several supply contracts at the same time. The authority hopes that this will lead to greater reliability through fixed-price contracts for part of the consumption and the exploitation of periods of low electricity prices, for example, to charge EVs.
However, the municipal utilities oppose a specific incentive for more flexible demand. “The network fees reflect the fixed costs of the network operators and should not bevariable over time for reasons of fairness in causation,” said VKU CEO Ingbert Liebing. In addition, the publication of network data poses security risks.
Electricity market
Electricity price
Natural gas
Renewable energies
News
Energy efficiency: EU Parliament wants mandatory renovation of old buildings
The EU Parliament has voted in favor of stricter requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings. Specifically, residential buildings are toachieveat least energy efficiency class “E” by 2030 and “D” by 2033. Similar to household appliances, energy efficiency is to be indicated on a scale from “A” to “G”. In addition, the deputies spoke out on Tuesday with 343 votes in favor, 216 against and 78 abstentions in favor of the fact that from 2028 only houses should bebuilt, through which virtually no additional greenhouse gases are emitted.
The MEPs have thus cleared the way for negotiations with the EU member states on the project. The national governments had already agreed on their position in October.
Possible high costs for homeowners
The project had recently been the subject of controversy because of the possible high costs for homeowners. There was even talk of “forced renovations“. “This will overburden homeowners,” said Markus Pieper of the CDU, for example. German MEP Jutta Paulus of the Green Party, on the other hand, stressed: “The goal for the upcoming negotiations is to massively reduce the energy consumption of buildings and to protect consumers’ wallets.”
After the vote, MEP Jens Geier emphasized that the path to climate neutrality must be social. “Financially weaker households should be protected from cost pressure. The draft directive explicitly provides for this,” said the SPD politician. CDU member of parliament and social policy expert Dennis Radtke sees it differently: “There is obviously no antenna for the social realities anymore.” dpa
Climate & Environment
Energy
European policy
Fit for 55: Parliament adopts trilogue results
On Tuesday, the EU Parliament approved the trilogue results of three legislative proposals of the Fit for 55 package. The final vote in the Council is now all that is needed for the legislative proposals on:
land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF),
distribution of emission reduction targets among the individual member states, so-called effort sharing
and the Market Stability Reserve of the EU Emissions Trading System
to appear in the Official Journal of the EU and become legally binding.
With the new LULUCF regulation, new rules for natural CO2 sinks are introduced in the EU. By 2030, the sinking capacity is supposed tobe increased by15 percent to 310 million tons of CO2 equivalent. As this target is higher than agreed in the EU Climate Change Act of 2021 (225 million tons), there is a possibility that the EU will raise its climate target of 55 percent CO2 reduction by 2030 deposited with the UN.
The revised Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) sets binding reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions for each EU country individually. For Germany, the target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2005. On average, EU countriesmustreducetheir emissions by 40 percent.
ETS reform to be voted on in April
The ESR applies to sectors not covered by the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) – currently, around 60 percent of all EU emissions. These include road transport, building heating, agriculture, smaller industrial plants and waste management sectors. However, some of the sectors are expected to be included in emissions trading in the coming years as part of the ETS reform. The EU Parliament will not vote on the trilogue agreement on ETS reform until the April session week.
The Market Stability Reserve (MSR) is part of the ETS. However, its revision was negotiated and voted on in a separate legislative proposal. The MSR regulates the reduction of surpluses of emission allowances in the ETS in order to minimize price volatility in the CO2 market. By the end of 2030, 24 percent of unsold allowances will transfer to the MSR each year, or at least 200 million allowances. In 2031, the take-up rate drops again to 12 percent and the minimum number to 100 million allowances. luk
Agriculture
Climate & Environment
Fit for 55
Green Deal
LULUCF
Parliament gives mandate for trilogue on Data Act
On Tuesday, the European Parliament gave a strong mandate for the Data Act trilogue. In plenary, 500 MEPs voted in favor of the bill proposed by lead rapporteurPilar del Castillo Vera (EPP). 23 parliamentarians voted against and 110 abstained. Now the Parliament is waiting for the Council to adopt a General Approach in order to start negotiations. According to information from Table.Media, this will be the case next week.
The Commission had presented its proposal for the Data Act in February 2022. The aim is to create a European market for data and promote innovation. In doing so, the Data Act lays down rules for the exchange and sharing of data that people or machines generate when they use connected products. Examples include data from wind turbines, smart home appliances, vehicles or related services.
“The Data Act will be a game-changer, providing access to an almost infinite amount of high-quality industry data,” del Castillo said.
BDI: Data Act ‘is still a long way from being ready for completion’
However, the industry’s reactionto the Parliament’s draft wasdivided. Many associations said it was better than the Commission’s proposal but not yet what they wanted. In Germany, the question of the extent to which trade secretsareprotected is particularly controversial.
For example, Iris Plöger, a member of the BDI Executive Board, called the Data Act a fundamental intervention in the rules of the European data economy. If the intended data-sharing obligations were to come into effect, research and innovation in Europewould beslowed down. Plöger criticized that numerous substantive issues have not yet been clarified. This would lead to legal uncertainties. In terms of content, the Data Act is still far from being ready for finalization.
At least Plöger stated that the Parliament had gone in the right direction – without, however, addressing the fundamental problems of the Commission’s proposal. As such, the BDI considers the “legitimate protection of trade secrets”. This must be maintained. A genuine exemption from a data provision obligation must be included. vis
Data Act
Digital policy
European Parliament
Trilog
Stricter lobbying rules for former MEPs
As a consequence of the EU corruption scandal, the European Parliament wants to tighten lobbying rules for departed MEPs. In the future, they will only be allowed to work as lobbyists in the Parliament after a so-called cooling-off period of six months, according to a statement from the EU Parliament on Tuesday. This was agreed in principle by the responsible body on Monday evening. The plan is to be formally adopted in April.
It is planned that during the six-month period, for example, former members of Parliament will not be allowed to enter parliamentary buildings to lobby. After that, according to the plans, they must wear a special ID card in Parliament.
The bribery scandal, which became public at the end of 2022, involves alleged influence on decisions of the EU Parliament by Qatar and Morocco. The defendants are accused by the public prosecutor of corruption, money laundering and membership in a criminal organization. The alleged mastermind, Antonio Panzeri, was a member of the EU Parliament for many years before founding a non-governmental organization. dpa
Corruption
European Parliament
Eva Kaili
Lobbying
Liberal MEP joins the Greens
Romanian MEPNicolae Ștefănuță left the Liberals and officially joined the Green Group yesterday. Earlier, French MEP Pascal Durand moved from the Renew Group to the S&D Group. These moves come at a time when parties are beginning to position themselves in view of the 2024 European elections.
“My affiliation with the Greens has a strong symbolic meaning because I am the first MEP from Romania to belong to this group,” Nicolae Ștefănuță said when asked by Table.Media. In addition to the fight against climate change and the protection of forests in Romania, he said it is also“very important” for him to defend the correct use of European funds for the Green Deal.
Romanians lose influence in the Renew Group
The MEP also stressed the new potential for industry that he believes the Green Deal offers. “An example of this is the car industry in Germany, which is linked to that in Romania, and the Green Deal we are building together must also be present in Romania,” he said.
The Renew Group regrets Nicolae Ștefănuță’s move. “It is a personal decision, not an ideological one,” Renew parliamentary group spokesman Stéphane Séjourné told Table.Media. Pascal Durand, on the other hand, had explained his departure from the Renew parliamentary group by saying that the Swedish Liberals are in a governing coalition with the far-right Sweden Democrats.
The Romanian delegation within Renew is split into two camps, says a political source in Brussels. This means that the delegation is losing influence within the group, even though it had put Dacian Cioloș at the head of Renew in 2019.
Greens want to win over southern countries
The Green Group is currently trying to gain more influence in the southern countries of the European Union – countries where the party is currently performing far worse than in northern Europe.
For example, Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the Italian 5 Stars party, visited the Green Group last week at its request, according to Philippe Lamberts, co-chair of the group. “Our wish is for strong progressive and Green forces to work together to confront the extreme right across Europe,” Lamberts said.
It is “clear” that the political family of the Greens is “a partner in demand,” said Lamberts. Not only in Italy but also in countries like Romania. cst
European Parliament
Renew
Heads
Axel Schäfer – SPD veteran
Axel Schäfer has been involved in politics for over fifty years.
In 1992, Axel Schäfer traveled to Armenia after an earthquake to bring medical supplies to hospitals. “When you look people in the eye, you can feel the human commonality,” says the politician, who has been a member of the SPD since 1969 and a member of the Bundestag since 2002.
In general, the 70-year-old, whom the media also call an SPD veteran, likes to be right in the thick of things. Throughout his long career, he has experienced many moving moments: In 1989, he traveled to Berlin directly after the Wall’s fall to cheer with the masses. In 2004, he postponed Christmas to be an election observer in Ukraine. And in 2015, he traveled to Paris the night after the attack on the editorial offices of “Charlie Hebdo” to offer support to the people on the streets.
Insights into geriatric care
Once a year, Schäfer completes a one-week internship. “When you have appointments 365 days a year as a professional politician, you have to experience the real life of the vast majority of people in between.”
In the past 26 years, he has been able to take on a wide variety of roles – from geriatric nurse to street cleaner to railroad service employee. That’s precisely why he never gave a thought to turning his back on politics. As a politician, he gets an extraordinary amount of input and the chance to shape his own life. Schäfer lives in Bochum, is married, has a son and two grandchildren.
Showing solidarity for Ukraine
In his political assessments, he often refers to historical models and events. At the same time, he emphasizes that history can be interpreted in different political ways. For example, Putin invaded Ukraine because the dissolution of the Soviet Union was, in his view, the biggest historical mistake that needs to be corrected.
“You can see this action as a restoration of Russian legal space or as an imperial fever fantasy,” Schäfer says. But one must not forget that people are dying in this war, he adds. That’s why it’s important to him, above all, to show the world, for example, at solidarity events, “We Germans continue to be a very peace-loving people and we support Ukraine.”
European unification as most important national interest
He associates progress with the history of European unification and those countries that are now pushing to become members. He is concerned with the electoral successes of Euroskeptics and right-wing nationalist post-fascists in countries like Sweden, Poland, Italy and Hungary.
“Where the paternoster goes up on one side, it goes down on the other,” he says, adding – with reference to Joschka Fischer – that the most important national interest is still European unification. Janna Degener-Storr
European policy
Apéro
In plain German
Swedish Renew MP Emma Wiesner called on the FDP to end its blockade on the combustion engine phase-out.
Emma Wiesner speaks German – very clear German, in fact, as the Swedish Renew MEP proved on Monday evening in the EU Parliament. The fact that Wiesner presented her language skills in such a high-profile way was due to the addressee of her words. She sits in Berlin, in the federal government – more precisely: in the FDP. “I’m speaking as a Swede, as a parliamentarian, as a young European, as a liberal: Please stand up for the Fit for 55 package and stop blocking key elements like the combustion engine phase-out.”
Wiesner called directly on the FDP to stop blocking the tightening of EU fleet limits and the associated phase-out of internal combustion vehicles in 2035. Because that would harm climate action. “I really never thought I would have to explain the value of climate action measures to Germany.” But when the future of the Fit for 55 package is at stake, it requires “extreme measures,” she said.
‘Fit for 55 is fragile’
What makes Wiesner’s appeal so forceful is that she belongs to the same European party family as the FDP. It is “absolutely irresponsible” to block already agreed legislative proposals in the Council, she criticized, warning, “Fit for 55 is fragile and in a fragile balance. Take out one critical piece and it collapses.” She was alluding to the fact that other countries could change their minds at the last minute. So all the negotiating successes of the past months would still be on the line.
Whether Wiesner’s words had the desired effect remains to be seen. However, she was congratulated by the chairwoman of the meeting for her “excellent German”.
The leader of the liberal Renew Group, Stéphane Séjourné, also expressed on Tuesday incomprehension for the attitude of the FDP. Lukas Scheid
