Joint gas purchasing as the way out + Ci • Table.Briefings

Dear reader,

Tomorrow, the EU energy ministers will meet informally in Prague. The member states must quickly come to a common denominator – on joint gas purchasing, on the savings obligation, on capping the price of gas, and not least on decoupling electricity and gas prices. Consensus seems to be emerging on some of these agenda items. The issue of financing, however, is likely to generate a lot of discussions, as Claire Stam, Manuel Berkel and Till Hoppe report.

The energy crisis also causes problems for the circular economy. Not necessarily just because of high energy prices but because a cycle has to be self-contained to function. However, interruptions are currently threatening the paper industry. Demand for certain types of paper has collapsed, and paper production is at a standstill in some places. Leonie Düngefeld explains what new problems this causes.

The Austrian government announced filing several complaints but, so far, did only one: a complaint against the EU Commission’s decision to include natural gas and nuclear power in the “green” taxonomy with the Court of the European Union, as Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced yesterday.

Gewessler’s colleague and parliamentary group leader of the Greens in Austria, Sigrid Maurer, is today’s Profile. The 37-year-old Tyrolean has the climate crisis firmly in her sights and sees the current challenges as an opportunity for the necessary change.

I wish you an exciting read!

Your
Lisa-Martina Klein

Joint gas purchasing as a possible compromise

By

Claire Stam

“This is an informal council, which means that legal aspects cannot be negotiated,” explains a diplomat. Discussions will therefore continue at a formal EU summit on Oct. 20-21, followed by a first round of talks among ministers at the Energy Council on Oct. 25. The legislative proposal is to be adopted at an extraordinary Energy Council in November – the fourth extraordinary Council since the Czech presidency began on Jul. 1.

A consensus is emerging among the member states on the issue of joint gas purchasing. This marks a turnaround after a long period of no real political support from member states for the energy platform established in the summer. “Member states now want to move faster and expect Commissioner Kadri Simson to present a detailed plan on this issue,” the diplomat confirmed, explaining that the details will be discussed at the next Energy Council on Oct. 25.

Speaking yesterday in Berlin at an event organized by the European Movement Germany, Sven Giegold, Green state secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economics, rejected criticism from a number of member states that the Federal Republic is opposed to joint gas purchasing. “Europe as a whole will not be able to economically withstand these high gas prices, neither at the state level nor at the private level,” he noted. “That’s why we need to bundle and use European purchasing power. The German government does not oppose joint purchasing.”

Ultimately, it was the EU gas suppliers’ partners, such as LNG exporters the U.S. and Qatar, as well as Norway, who helped stimulate the debate by emphasizing that they would rather negotiate with an EU representative than talk separately with individual member states. “This aspect has helped to advance the discussion on the establishment of such a platform among EU countries,” the diplomat reports.

Germany with higher savings obligation

It is also becoming increasingly clear to member states that joint purchasing will lead to a more favorable gas price, he adds. Or, as Giegold put it: so that “we negotiate clearly with our friends and those who may yet become friends about gas price conditions. And no longer let ourselves be played off against each other nationally.

Surprisingly, Giegold also spoke out yesterday in favor of strengthening European savings commitments. In the summer, the member states decided to reduce gas consumption by 15 percent from August to March. However, the target is to become binding only through a renewed decision by the Council. “In this context, Germany is prepared to take on a higher share commensurate with its performance,” the state secretary said. In doing so, Germany would be accommodating its EU partners, as many hold the Federal Republic responsible for the current plight due to its high dependence on once cheap Russian gas.

The EU also needs a strengthening of the storage obligations, Giegold said. Next year, the filling of storage facilities must begin earlier. Yesterday, the gas commission set up by the German government warned that the challenges in the winter of 2023/24 are likely to be even greater than this one. Just a few weeks ago, the German government reported to Brussels that German gas storage facilities will probably be emptier in 2023 than this year.

In their efforts to reduce gas prices, a majority of member states are also calling for electricity prices to be decoupled from gas prices. “Decoupling the price of electricity from the price of gas and setting up a platform for joint purchasing of gas are two measures that have the advantage for member states that they can be implemented quickly,” the diplomat further asserts – although politicians from the traffic light coalition remain skeptical about whether the purchasing platform can get off the ground quickly.

Gas not at all cost

For the diplomat, however, it needs to get more specific first. “Member states first need to agree on a common definition of what a gas price cap is. All member states talk about gas price caps, but they don’t necessarily mean the same thing,” he said.

For its part, the European Commission has written to EU leaders to consider a temporary cap on wholesale gas prices to address the energy crisis. “This cap should be set at a level that continues to secure Europe’s gas supply but also shows that the EU is not prepared to pay any price for gas,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote to EU leaders ahead of their informal summit on Friday.

Such a cap would need to be accompanied by other measures, including EU-wide auctions to further reduce demand and binding agreements among EU countries to support each other. The Commission also argues that the European benchmark TTF is too closely linked to pipeline gas imports and, therefore, not representative of a market with a growing share of LNG imports.

In Berlin, they support the idea of introducing a new benchmark index. “We also need an alternative benchmark for the long-term contracts so that they can detach themselves to some extent from the high spot market prices,” Giegold said yesterday.

There remains the question of how to finance these measures. “This is a point that member states will have to discuss,” the diplomat reports. Some member states say they can pay themselves, while others say it would make sense to use Covid funds. “At the moment, there is no consensus; both sides are still discussing,” says the diplomat. After all, the financial issue will also be on the agenda of the ministerial meeting, with a speech by EIB Vice President Thomas Östros. with Till Hoppe and Manuel Berkel

Waste and circular economy: domino effect of the energy crisis

By

Leonie Düngefeld

The circular economy is currently being promoted at all levels: The EU Commission will present its second legislative package at the end of November, and the German Environment Ministry is working on key points for a German strategy. The energy crisis is currently making it clear that a functioning product cycle depends on more than eco-design and product labels: above all, it depends on a functioning industry. In the area of waste paper, associations of the waste disposal industry are already discussing a threat to the circular economy. The same could soon happen for glass and lightweight packaging.

As far as the direct impact is concerned, the circular economy is one of the less affected industries, as Peter Kurth, president of the German Association of the Waste Management, Water and Environmental Service Industries (BDE), explains. In both logistics and plants, he says, it has been possible to partially substitute natural gas requirements with other energy sources. Recycling processes are also generally less energy-intensive than the production of primary raw materials.

The circular economy is mainly indirectly affected by the energy crisis, he said, because it requires secondary raw materials to be returned to the industry. “If we collect materials separately, we must also be able to place them in industry or at other facilities.” Separate paper collection, for example, requires that there be a paper industry to take the recycled paper. Otherwise, separate paper waste collection is unnecessary. “A cycle has to be self-contained,” Kurth says. “If one part is missing, it doesn’t work anymore.”

In addition to high costs, a slump in demand for some types of paper is currently causing European paper mills to interrupt production and declare short-time work. In Germany, for example, hygiene paper manufacturer Hakle filed for insolvency proceedings at the beginning of September. Other mills in Germany, Austria and Italy cut back, interrupted or ended production.

Interruption of paper recycling would have severe consequences

Paper production is particularly energy-intensive, as the cell material has to be heated and dried. The entire sector, especially the production of sanitary paper, is heavily dependent on natural gas as fuel – 58 percent in Germany. At the same time, it is currently very difficult for mills to substitute gas purchases. According to a survey by the German Paper Industry Association, only ten to twelve percent of paper production in Germany would remain dependent on natural gas in the event of a gas supply interruption.

Yet the product cycle of paper is a model of the circular economy: The recycling rate of paper in Europe (EU, Norway, Switzerland and the UK) is over 70 percent. In Germany, the largest paper producer in the EU, 50,000 tons of recovered paper are used daily to produce packaging and new paper.

Recently, prices for recovered paper have dropped enormously. “We expect that the difficulties we already have in selling recovered paper for a price will become a central problem in the coming weeks,” according to Kurth.

This would have far-reaching consequences: “A disruption in paper recycling would affect transport packaging, in particular, posing a serious threat to the EU internal market, and it would have significant consequences for food logistics,” explains Jori Ringman, managing director of the European paper industry association, Cepi.

Waste incineration threatens dropouts

As an interim solution, the associations want to store the waste paper temporarily. In a letter to the German Conference of Environment Ministers, the German Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Disposal (BVSE) called for simplifying approval procedures for interim storage facilities. If the acceptance of secondary raw materials comes to a standstill, “immense space and financing requirements for interim storage facilities” can be expected, the letter states. It is true that the quality of the paper suffers under storage and the risk of fire increases with the quantity stored. Otherwise, however, the waste paper must be deliberately burned – at waste incineration plants.

This is another problem for the waste disposal industry: Supply shortages of natural gas also restrict ammonia production, used in waste incineration plants for flue gas cleaning. In the filter systems, it reacts with toxic nitrogen oxides to form harmless nitrogen and water. There are only a few producers in Germany, and the additive is not readily available from abroad.

If ammonia production continues to collapse, Peter Kurth explains that the choice is between the devil and the deep blue sea: Either the incineration plants have to shut down, which would eventually lead to a disposal emergency – or they continue to operate and blow toxic nitrogen oxides into the air. A shutdown would also have an impact on district heating output: incinerators supply up to 20 percent of district heating in urban centers.

So far, these are only warnings. Whether the domino effect of the energy crisis on the waste and recycling industry can be mitigated by the German government’s so-called defense shield remains to be seen.

Ministry for Economic Affairs: Delay jeopardizes nuclear power plant reserve deployment

Arguments continue in the German government over the deployment reserve for the two nuclear power plants Isar II and Neckarwestheim planned by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. Contrary to Habeck’s plans and an agreement in the coalition, the federal government did not yet give the green light for the bill on Monday, a ministry spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency.

It justified this with “political disagreements”. The project is thus apparently floundering. “This means that the tight schedule for the process cannot be kept, which is what the operators were told today,” the spokeswoman said. “This delay is a problem if you want Isar 2 to still be producing electricity in 2023.”

Coalition circles added that the delay was due to objections from the Federal Ministry of Finance. “There was a clear understanding on this with the coalition partners, despite different perspectives, to bring this draft law on the deployment reserve through the cabinet today so that it can be dealt with in the parliamentary procedure,” the Economy Ministry spokeswoman said. “However, due to political disagreements, this understanding was abandoned.”

The spokeswoman emphasized that the ministry wanted the nuclear power plants in southern Germany to continue to operate after the turn of the year so that they could contribute to stability in the power system if necessary. To this end, the necessary agreements had been reached with the nuclear power plant operators. However, the repairs to the Isar II nuclear power plant would have to be carried out promptly, and the nuclear power plant operators would need clarity. The ministry continues to push for solutions, “otherwise, we’ll be left without Isar 2 because of delays”. rtr

Austria files taxonomy lawsuit

Austria filed its announced lawsuit against the EU Commission’s decision to include nuclear power and natural gas in the taxonomy with the General Court of the European Union. Yesterday, the deadline for actions against the Delegated Act ended. The action for annulment contains a total of 16 points of complaint, as Austrian Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced yesterday at a press conference. She called the Delegated Act irresponsible, unreasonable and not legal.

The points of complaint concern both the content of the Commission’s legal act and the legislative process. One argument is that the legal act contradicts the Taxonomy Regulation itself: The list of economic activities contained therein was limited to renewable energies in the energy sector and deliberately excluded nuclear power and natural gas activities, Simone Lünenbürger, a lawyer with the law firm that was commissioned, explained at the press conference.

In turn, only activities for which there is no better alternative have been named so-called transition technologies. This does not apply to either of the two technologies. In the case of nuclear power, there is also the suspicion that it is intended as a permanent solution for Europe and is to be secured by means of the taxonomy with long-term investments. Here, the legal act violates the precautionary principle, which includes future generations and is also anchored in the taxonomy regulation.

Lawyer estimates lawsuit to take two years

According to the EU taxonomy, economic activities are considered sustainable if they make a significant contribution to one of the six environmental objectives and do not significantly affect any of the other objectives. “With the legal act challenged by Austria, the Commission has established that nuclear energy and fossil gas protect the climate under certain conditions, at least as so-called transitional technologies, while ensuring that they do not significantly affect any of the other environmental objectives,” Lünenbürger explained.

“We consider this finding to be contrary to European Union law.” According to the lawyer, nuclear power can and should be found to have a significant impact on objectives such as waste prevention and the protection of biodiversity, oceans and ecosystems with regard to possible accidents and the issue of final repositories.

Furthermore, the emission levels for natural gas activities permitted under the legislation are far above the limits that the EU Commission’s experts believe are still compatible with the requirements of the Paris Climate Agreement and the EU’s Climate Change Act.

Broad consensus in Austria

The lawsuit filing does not have a suspensive effect, so according to the plan, the act will enter into force on January 1, 2023. A decision by the court and, in the second instance, by the European Court of Justice could lead to a change in the legal situation. This is the aim of the Austrian lawsuit. The proceedings will probably take longer than average EU legal proceedings” due to their legal and technical complexity,” Lünenbürger said. She estimates it will take about two years.

Gewessler clarified that she considers the taxonomy regulation to be an essential instrument that prevents greenwashing and contributes to the achievement of the EU climate targets. The Austrian government supports the regulation, she said. With the lawsuit, it wants to prevent the attempt “to greenwash nuclear power and gas via a backdoor.” Moreover, there is a broad consensus in Austria on this issue. The resolutions in the National Council were passed unanimously, and the lawsuit will continue regardless of elections, Gewessler said.

Luxembourg will join the lawsuit with further arguments. Austria is still in talks with several other EU member states, Gewessler said. Several environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, have also announced legal actions. leo

EU reform: Berlin and Paris discuss joint initiative

Germany and France want to negotiate a joint push to reform the EU at the bilateral Council of Ministers on Oct. 26. At the high-level meeting in Rouen, the two governments would have to say “whether they have the courage to jointly take Europe a step forward,” Economy State Secretary Sven Giegold said on Monday. France and Germany should put forward joint proposals in tandem and in close coordination with other member states.

It is a matter of strengthening the EU’s performance in areas such as foreign policy, defense, tax issues and joint fiscal capacities, the Green politician said at an event organized by the European Movement Germany. Giegold advocated moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in these areas and strengthening the European Parliament. So far, it is mainly smaller countries that are resisting the move away from unanimity: They fear that they would otherwise lose influence in politically highly sensitive areas.

Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, said that many member states were afraid that the “philosophy of consensus” would be lost as a result. Therefore, she said, it was first necessary to build trust in talks with governments. A group of countries, she said, supported reform and was already working on proposals to address the objections.

Discussions are underway, for example, on a voluntary veto waiver by willing states, higher approval hurdles than for the QMV, or retention of the veto right in defined, particularly sensitive policy areas. The Czech presidency’s goal is to identify the outlines of a possible compromise by the end of the year. tho

Orbán calls meeting with Scholz ‘fruitful’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) received Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the Berlin Chancellery on Monday. According to the German side, the talks focused on reactions to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Orbán described the evening’s talks as “fruitful”. “I am happy to tell you that he (Scholz) is still alive. So am I,” he said after the meeting, which he said lasted two hours. Both sides could be satisfied with the meeting, he said. All difficult issues had been addressed. However, Orbán did not give details.

The right-wing nationalist Hungarian head of government has been railing against the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia for months. Nevertheless, his country has so far always voted in favor of the punitive measures, which must be adopted unanimously. A few days ago, Orbán announced a referendum in Hungary on the sanctions.

Originally, a press conference with Scholz was not planned. This is actually the rule for visits by heads of government from European Union member states. But there are exceptions.

There was no word from the Chancellery on the talks. Orbán made his comments at an economic forum organized by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. On Sunday, he had already met former German Chancellor and CDU leader Angela Merkel and Armin Laschet, former Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia and current CDU foreign policy expert in the Bundestag. dpa

EU defense against economic blackmail takes shape

The European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade passed its draft for an anti-coercion instrument by a large majority, and thus took a big hurdle. Its purpose is to prevent any form of economic coercion, particularly from China. The committee’s deputies also voted in favor of immediately launching trilogue talks with the EU Commission and the Council of the European Union to advance the trade instrument faster. A vote in the European Parliament is thus not required.

The MEPs plan to tighten up the Commission’s proposal in some areas: According to the MEPs, even the threat of coercive measures by third countries should be enough for the EU Commission to take action. In addition, they call for more far-reaching measures to compensate for the damage caused to an EU country. The EU should be able to defend itself against aggressive countries with higher tariffs or by excluding their companies from public contracts in the EU.

“When third countries try to influence political decisions of member states by imposing targeted trade restrictions, the EU must not have the short end of the stick,” said CDU European politician Daniel Caspary. “In the future, the EU can react robustly to trade blockades, such as those imposed by China on Lithuania over the opening of Taiwan’s representative office, and impose countermeasures.” An agreement on the matter by the European Parliament, the EU Commission and the EU Council is expected before the end of this year. ari

Supply Chain Act: first exchange in the Environment Committee

Yesterday, the EU Parliament’s Environment Committee exchanged views for the first time on its opinion on the EU Supply Chain Act. Rapporteur Tiemo Wölken (S&D) presented the first points for the opinion, which mainly includes climate and environmental protection obligations for companies. The Legal Affairs Committee is the lead committee, while several other committees such as the ENVI Committee are co-advisory.

On environmental and climate issues, the Commission’s proposal still needs to be significantly improved, Wölken explained. In particular, he said, there is a lack of binding emissions targets for companies in their supply chains. He, therefore, proposes an obligation for companies to submit concrete climate plans based on economic criteria. “This includes staging targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions along the supply chain starting in 2030 in 5-year steps until 2050, in line with the European climate law.” With strong climate regulations in the Due Diligence Act, it would also be possible to accelerate the fight against climate change globally from Europe.

The Commission’s draft list of international environmental conventions with which companies must comply is also fragmentary and vague, with no mention of many of the possible negative environmental impacts. Wölken suggests that the definition of these influences be adjusted and a concrete list of environmental offenses be drawn up, including, for example, the impairment of water and air quality, the erosion of biodiversity and the endangerment of human health.

Inclusion of SMEs causes discussion

The inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises also remains a contentious issue in the Environment Committee, as the comments of the shadow rapporteurs showed. Wölken proposes their inclusion through an expansion of the scope of application and a risk-based approach to due diligence. Companies should be able to prioritize according to clear criteria such as the size of their influence, the level of their risk and the contribution to causation. It should no longer be possible to pass on obligations to contractual partners. This would also mean that smaller companies would be less overwhelmed by the requirements.

Wölken praises the proposal with regard to the introduction of a civil law action regime for companies in the event of failure to comply with due diligence obligations. This is a real success, he said, but it is not enough. “We need the reversal of the burden of proof, in which companies must prove that they have also fulfilled their obligations,” he said. “Imposing this duty on affected parties is not responsible.”

Additionally, Wölken wants to tighten up the Commission’s draft with regard to the responsibility of corporate management, thus fulfilling the claim made in Parliament’s own-initiative report.

Amendments to the opinion can be submitted until Oct. 17. The vote will take place in February. leo

ETS trilogue makes minimal progress

Only minimal progress could be made at the second ETS trilogue, according to parliamentary rapporteurs Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA) and Peter Liese (EPP). After four hours of negotiations on Monday morning, they had not been able to “agree on anything,” said Bloss, criticizing, in particular, the Czech Council Presidency.

He was very disappointed because the member states had not given the negotiators a mandate to finalize any open points, Bloss said. He fears that the Czechs are deliberately dragging out the trilogue and want to leave it to the upcoming Council presidency from Sweden. The Commission would also exert too little pressure, as the shadow rapporteur of the Greens criticized.

His counterpart from the CDU, Peter Liese, also presented only minimal progress but showed understanding for the Czech Council presidency. Their negotiators had a powerful program ahead of them with the trilogues on the Fit for 55 package. They have prioritized the Effort Sharing Regulation, LULUCF and the CO2 fleet standards for passenger cars, and want to finish these by COP27 so they can present something there, he explained. ETS and CBAM, on the other hand, should be finished by Christmas.

Agreement on benchmarks for steel industry

The major topics of ambition levels, ETS 2 and free allocations for industry had been discussed, both Bloss and Liese confirmed. However, there was no agreement. In any case, Liese said, he did not believe that these issues could be resolved before the very last trilogue.

The Commission’s proposals to raise the benchmarks for the steel industry, on the other hand, are off the table. These would have ensured that even more steel industry plants that do not meet the benchmarks would lose free emission allowances in addition to the linear reduction factor. According to Liese, however, the benchmarks will now remain as they are. In addition, electricity price compensation for indirect emissions is also to remain in place, Liese reported. This is important to avoid further price shocks in the wake of the energy crisis, he said.

The next trilogue round is scheduled for Nov. 10. Until then, so-called technical negotiations on detailed issues will continue to take place. luk

Combustion engine phase-out for trucks: Commission proposal delayed

The Commission will not present its proposal for CO2 fleet targets for trucks on Nov. 30 as planned. The item has been removed from the list of scheduled items on the agenda of future Commission meetings. Now the proposal is expected to come in the first months of 2023. The Commission has not yet given a new date.

The proposal will encourage further reductions in the average CO2 emissions of new trucks from each manufacturer. Manufacturers who fail to meet fleet targets will face penalties. The Commission is also expected to set an end date for the internal combustion engine in commercial vehicles. It could be 2040. For trucks, there is also the question of whether the Commission will allow synthetic fuels produced in a CO2-neutral manner to be counted under the C02 fleet limits. Observers do not expect this to happen. mgr

Sigrid Maurer – the provocateur as political realist

Sigrid Maurer has been the parliamentary group leader of the Green Party in Austria since January 2020.

Sigrid “Sigi” Maurer doesn’t have much time to talk today. On the agenda are phone call after phone call about the accident at OMV in the summer (was it sabotage after all?), negotiations with coalition partner ÖVP about rising energy prices, a party meeting in the evening and Industry Day. As head of the Green parliamentary group in the Austrian National Council, Maurer has a lot to organize, coordinate and negotiate.

Does the unrest at the coalition partner ÖVP make the work more difficult? After all, there have been eight changes to ministerial and chancellor posts since the government was formed in January 2020. “The ÖVP is responsible for its own personnel policy. Of course, it’s difficult when the other party is not entirely stable, but that has calmed down in the meantime,” says Maurer, who, as with everything else, is not too keen to show his cards.

In general, Maurer is rhetorically quite the politician with the gift of leaving questions unanswered but directing the topic to what – in her eyes – is essential. She does not allow herself to be provoked, even in the face of critical questions about the government’s current low poll ratings, but is “surprisingly aggressive on the defensive,” as the Austrian news magazine Profil writes.

However, she doesn’t shy away from being provocative: When she received a lot of hate messages in 2017 after a talk show on the subject of sexual harassment, she posted a photo on Instagram, her middle fingers raised, with the words “to the haters with love”. In 2010, quite early in her political career, she throws leaflets from the visitors’ gallery into the plenary chamber of the National Council and is thrown out. Maurer is banned from entering for 18 months.

Difficult decisions in times of crisis

The 37-year-old Tyrolean got involved in politics while studying musicology and political science. When the course in musicology was to be abolished, she became involved in the Austrian Student Union. From 2009 to 2011 she is its chairwoman and supports the student protests in 2009/2010. A good preparation for federal politics: In 2013, while still studying sociology for a second time, she enters the National Council as a Green Party member of parliament, at the age of 28.

Since the 2019 election, the Greens have formed a Turquoise-Green coalition together with the ÖVP. Maurer inherited the chairmanship of the parliamentary group from Werner Kogler at the beginning of 2020, when Kogler became vice chancellor. Since then, a state of permanent crisis has prevailed with the pandemic and the Russian war of aggression. But Maurer only acknowledges this with a dry: “You have to take the crises as they come and see them as an opportunity.

On the issue of the energy crisis, in particular, what the Greens have been preaching for decades is now state reason. “Even the most conservative of conservatives now understand that we need the energy transition and that the climate crisis is not going away.”

Nevertheless, just as in Germany, the Greens are currently having to make decisions that would never have been expected of them. This would include, for example, converting certain power plants to fossil fuels to be prepared for emergencies. “At the same time as these emergency measures, however, it is now important to continue to become independent, not only of Russian gas, but of gas as a whole, and to rely on renewable energies,” Maurer says. One step towards this, she says, is the ban on gas heating in new buildings from January 2023.

Particularly close to the frequent commuter’s heart is the implementation of the climate ticket, a ticket for all regional and national public transport. “The ticket has been in various party programs for decades, and now it has finally been implemented,” she says happily. Lisa-Martina Klein

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

Till
Hoppe

Charlotte
Wirth

Falk
Steiner

Timo
Landenberger

Corinna
Visser

Lukas
Knigge

Eric
Bonse

Sarah
Schaefer

Manuel
Berkel

Lisa-Martina
Klein

Markus
Grabitz

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

Dear reader,

Tomorrow, the EU energy ministers will meet informally in Prague. The member states must quickly come to a common denominator – on joint gas purchasing, on the savings obligation, on capping the price of gas, and not least on decoupling electricity and gas prices. Consensus seems to be emerging on some of these agenda items. The issue of financing, however, is likely to generate a lot of discussions, as Claire Stam, Manuel Berkel and Till Hoppe report.

The energy crisis also causes problems for the circular economy. Not necessarily just because of high energy prices but because a cycle has to be self-contained to function. However, interruptions are currently threatening the paper industry. Demand for certain types of paper has collapsed, and paper production is at a standstill in some places. Leonie Düngefeld explains what new problems this causes.

The Austrian government announced filing several complaints but, so far, did only one: a complaint against the EU Commission’s decision to include natural gas and nuclear power in the “green” taxonomy with the Court of the European Union, as Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced yesterday.

Gewessler’s colleague and parliamentary group leader of the Greens in Austria, Sigrid Maurer, is today’s Profile. The 37-year-old Tyrolean has the climate crisis firmly in her sights and sees the current challenges as an opportunity for the necessary change.

I wish you an exciting read!

Your
Lisa-Martina Klein

Joint gas purchasing as a possible compromise

By

Claire Stam

“This is an informal council, which means that legal aspects cannot be negotiated,” explains a diplomat. Discussions will therefore continue at a formal EU summit on Oct. 20-21, followed by a first round of talks among ministers at the Energy Council on Oct. 25. The legislative proposal is to be adopted at an extraordinary Energy Council in November – the fourth extraordinary Council since the Czech presidency began on Jul. 1.

A consensus is emerging among the member states on the issue of joint gas purchasing. This marks a turnaround after a long period of no real political support from member states for the energy platform established in the summer. “Member states now want to move faster and expect Commissioner Kadri Simson to present a detailed plan on this issue,” the diplomat confirmed, explaining that the details will be discussed at the next Energy Council on Oct. 25.

Speaking yesterday in Berlin at an event organized by the European Movement Germany, Sven Giegold, Green state secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economics, rejected criticism from a number of member states that the Federal Republic is opposed to joint gas purchasing. “Europe as a whole will not be able to economically withstand these high gas prices, neither at the state level nor at the private level,” he noted. “That’s why we need to bundle and use European purchasing power. The German government does not oppose joint purchasing.”

Ultimately, it was the EU gas suppliers’ partners, such as LNG exporters the U.S. and Qatar, as well as Norway, who helped stimulate the debate by emphasizing that they would rather negotiate with an EU representative than talk separately with individual member states. “This aspect has helped to advance the discussion on the establishment of such a platform among EU countries,” the diplomat reports.

Germany with higher savings obligation

It is also becoming increasingly clear to member states that joint purchasing will lead to a more favorable gas price, he adds. Or, as Giegold put it: so that “we negotiate clearly with our friends and those who may yet become friends about gas price conditions. And no longer let ourselves be played off against each other nationally.

Surprisingly, Giegold also spoke out yesterday in favor of strengthening European savings commitments. In the summer, the member states decided to reduce gas consumption by 15 percent from August to March. However, the target is to become binding only through a renewed decision by the Council. “In this context, Germany is prepared to take on a higher share commensurate with its performance,” the state secretary said. In doing so, Germany would be accommodating its EU partners, as many hold the Federal Republic responsible for the current plight due to its high dependence on once cheap Russian gas.

The EU also needs a strengthening of the storage obligations, Giegold said. Next year, the filling of storage facilities must begin earlier. Yesterday, the gas commission set up by the German government warned that the challenges in the winter of 2023/24 are likely to be even greater than this one. Just a few weeks ago, the German government reported to Brussels that German gas storage facilities will probably be emptier in 2023 than this year.

In their efforts to reduce gas prices, a majority of member states are also calling for electricity prices to be decoupled from gas prices. “Decoupling the price of electricity from the price of gas and setting up a platform for joint purchasing of gas are two measures that have the advantage for member states that they can be implemented quickly,” the diplomat further asserts – although politicians from the traffic light coalition remain skeptical about whether the purchasing platform can get off the ground quickly.

Gas not at all cost

For the diplomat, however, it needs to get more specific first. “Member states first need to agree on a common definition of what a gas price cap is. All member states talk about gas price caps, but they don’t necessarily mean the same thing,” he said.

For its part, the European Commission has written to EU leaders to consider a temporary cap on wholesale gas prices to address the energy crisis. “This cap should be set at a level that continues to secure Europe’s gas supply but also shows that the EU is not prepared to pay any price for gas,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote to EU leaders ahead of their informal summit on Friday.

Such a cap would need to be accompanied by other measures, including EU-wide auctions to further reduce demand and binding agreements among EU countries to support each other. The Commission also argues that the European benchmark TTF is too closely linked to pipeline gas imports and, therefore, not representative of a market with a growing share of LNG imports.

In Berlin, they support the idea of introducing a new benchmark index. “We also need an alternative benchmark for the long-term contracts so that they can detach themselves to some extent from the high spot market prices,” Giegold said yesterday.

There remains the question of how to finance these measures. “This is a point that member states will have to discuss,” the diplomat reports. Some member states say they can pay themselves, while others say it would make sense to use Covid funds. “At the moment, there is no consensus; both sides are still discussing,” says the diplomat. After all, the financial issue will also be on the agenda of the ministerial meeting, with a speech by EIB Vice President Thomas Östros. with Till Hoppe and Manuel Berkel

Waste and circular economy: domino effect of the energy crisis

By

Leonie Düngefeld

The circular economy is currently being promoted at all levels: The EU Commission will present its second legislative package at the end of November, and the German Environment Ministry is working on key points for a German strategy. The energy crisis is currently making it clear that a functioning product cycle depends on more than eco-design and product labels: above all, it depends on a functioning industry. In the area of waste paper, associations of the waste disposal industry are already discussing a threat to the circular economy. The same could soon happen for glass and lightweight packaging.

As far as the direct impact is concerned, the circular economy is one of the less affected industries, as Peter Kurth, president of the German Association of the Waste Management, Water and Environmental Service Industries (BDE), explains. In both logistics and plants, he says, it has been possible to partially substitute natural gas requirements with other energy sources. Recycling processes are also generally less energy-intensive than the production of primary raw materials.

The circular economy is mainly indirectly affected by the energy crisis, he said, because it requires secondary raw materials to be returned to the industry. “If we collect materials separately, we must also be able to place them in industry or at other facilities.” Separate paper collection, for example, requires that there be a paper industry to take the recycled paper. Otherwise, separate paper waste collection is unnecessary. “A cycle has to be self-contained,” Kurth says. “If one part is missing, it doesn’t work anymore.”

In addition to high costs, a slump in demand for some types of paper is currently causing European paper mills to interrupt production and declare short-time work. In Germany, for example, hygiene paper manufacturer Hakle filed for insolvency proceedings at the beginning of September. Other mills in Germany, Austria and Italy cut back, interrupted or ended production.

Interruption of paper recycling would have severe consequences

Paper production is particularly energy-intensive, as the cell material has to be heated and dried. The entire sector, especially the production of sanitary paper, is heavily dependent on natural gas as fuel – 58 percent in Germany. At the same time, it is currently very difficult for mills to substitute gas purchases. According to a survey by the German Paper Industry Association, only ten to twelve percent of paper production in Germany would remain dependent on natural gas in the event of a gas supply interruption.

Yet the product cycle of paper is a model of the circular economy: The recycling rate of paper in Europe (EU, Norway, Switzerland and the UK) is over 70 percent. In Germany, the largest paper producer in the EU, 50,000 tons of recovered paper are used daily to produce packaging and new paper.

Recently, prices for recovered paper have dropped enormously. “We expect that the difficulties we already have in selling recovered paper for a price will become a central problem in the coming weeks,” according to Kurth.

This would have far-reaching consequences: “A disruption in paper recycling would affect transport packaging, in particular, posing a serious threat to the EU internal market, and it would have significant consequences for food logistics,” explains Jori Ringman, managing director of the European paper industry association, Cepi.

Waste incineration threatens dropouts

As an interim solution, the associations want to store the waste paper temporarily. In a letter to the German Conference of Environment Ministers, the German Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Disposal (BVSE) called for simplifying approval procedures for interim storage facilities. If the acceptance of secondary raw materials comes to a standstill, “immense space and financing requirements for interim storage facilities” can be expected, the letter states. It is true that the quality of the paper suffers under storage and the risk of fire increases with the quantity stored. Otherwise, however, the waste paper must be deliberately burned – at waste incineration plants.

This is another problem for the waste disposal industry: Supply shortages of natural gas also restrict ammonia production, used in waste incineration plants for flue gas cleaning. In the filter systems, it reacts with toxic nitrogen oxides to form harmless nitrogen and water. There are only a few producers in Germany, and the additive is not readily available from abroad.

If ammonia production continues to collapse, Peter Kurth explains that the choice is between the devil and the deep blue sea: Either the incineration plants have to shut down, which would eventually lead to a disposal emergency – or they continue to operate and blow toxic nitrogen oxides into the air. A shutdown would also have an impact on district heating output: incinerators supply up to 20 percent of district heating in urban centers.

So far, these are only warnings. Whether the domino effect of the energy crisis on the waste and recycling industry can be mitigated by the German government’s so-called defense shield remains to be seen.

Ministry for Economic Affairs: Delay jeopardizes nuclear power plant reserve deployment

Arguments continue in the German government over the deployment reserve for the two nuclear power plants Isar II and Neckarwestheim planned by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. Contrary to Habeck’s plans and an agreement in the coalition, the federal government did not yet give the green light for the bill on Monday, a ministry spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency.

It justified this with “political disagreements”. The project is thus apparently floundering. “This means that the tight schedule for the process cannot be kept, which is what the operators were told today,” the spokeswoman said. “This delay is a problem if you want Isar 2 to still be producing electricity in 2023.”

Coalition circles added that the delay was due to objections from the Federal Ministry of Finance. “There was a clear understanding on this with the coalition partners, despite different perspectives, to bring this draft law on the deployment reserve through the cabinet today so that it can be dealt with in the parliamentary procedure,” the Economy Ministry spokeswoman said. “However, due to political disagreements, this understanding was abandoned.”

The spokeswoman emphasized that the ministry wanted the nuclear power plants in southern Germany to continue to operate after the turn of the year so that they could contribute to stability in the power system if necessary. To this end, the necessary agreements had been reached with the nuclear power plant operators. However, the repairs to the Isar II nuclear power plant would have to be carried out promptly, and the nuclear power plant operators would need clarity. The ministry continues to push for solutions, “otherwise, we’ll be left without Isar 2 because of delays”. rtr

Austria files taxonomy lawsuit

Austria filed its announced lawsuit against the EU Commission’s decision to include nuclear power and natural gas in the taxonomy with the General Court of the European Union. Yesterday, the deadline for actions against the Delegated Act ended. The action for annulment contains a total of 16 points of complaint, as Austrian Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced yesterday at a press conference. She called the Delegated Act irresponsible, unreasonable and not legal.

The points of complaint concern both the content of the Commission’s legal act and the legislative process. One argument is that the legal act contradicts the Taxonomy Regulation itself: The list of economic activities contained therein was limited to renewable energies in the energy sector and deliberately excluded nuclear power and natural gas activities, Simone Lünenbürger, a lawyer with the law firm that was commissioned, explained at the press conference.

In turn, only activities for which there is no better alternative have been named so-called transition technologies. This does not apply to either of the two technologies. In the case of nuclear power, there is also the suspicion that it is intended as a permanent solution for Europe and is to be secured by means of the taxonomy with long-term investments. Here, the legal act violates the precautionary principle, which includes future generations and is also anchored in the taxonomy regulation.

Lawyer estimates lawsuit to take two years

According to the EU taxonomy, economic activities are considered sustainable if they make a significant contribution to one of the six environmental objectives and do not significantly affect any of the other objectives. “With the legal act challenged by Austria, the Commission has established that nuclear energy and fossil gas protect the climate under certain conditions, at least as so-called transitional technologies, while ensuring that they do not significantly affect any of the other environmental objectives,” Lünenbürger explained.

“We consider this finding to be contrary to European Union law.” According to the lawyer, nuclear power can and should be found to have a significant impact on objectives such as waste prevention and the protection of biodiversity, oceans and ecosystems with regard to possible accidents and the issue of final repositories.

Furthermore, the emission levels for natural gas activities permitted under the legislation are far above the limits that the EU Commission’s experts believe are still compatible with the requirements of the Paris Climate Agreement and the EU’s Climate Change Act.

Broad consensus in Austria

The lawsuit filing does not have a suspensive effect, so according to the plan, the act will enter into force on January 1, 2023. A decision by the court and, in the second instance, by the European Court of Justice could lead to a change in the legal situation. This is the aim of the Austrian lawsuit. The proceedings will probably take longer than average EU legal proceedings” due to their legal and technical complexity,” Lünenbürger said. She estimates it will take about two years.

Gewessler clarified that she considers the taxonomy regulation to be an essential instrument that prevents greenwashing and contributes to the achievement of the EU climate targets. The Austrian government supports the regulation, she said. With the lawsuit, it wants to prevent the attempt “to greenwash nuclear power and gas via a backdoor.” Moreover, there is a broad consensus in Austria on this issue. The resolutions in the National Council were passed unanimously, and the lawsuit will continue regardless of elections, Gewessler said.

Luxembourg will join the lawsuit with further arguments. Austria is still in talks with several other EU member states, Gewessler said. Several environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, have also announced legal actions. leo

EU reform: Berlin and Paris discuss joint initiative

Germany and France want to negotiate a joint push to reform the EU at the bilateral Council of Ministers on Oct. 26. At the high-level meeting in Rouen, the two governments would have to say “whether they have the courage to jointly take Europe a step forward,” Economy State Secretary Sven Giegold said on Monday. France and Germany should put forward joint proposals in tandem and in close coordination with other member states.

It is a matter of strengthening the EU’s performance in areas such as foreign policy, defense, tax issues and joint fiscal capacities, the Green politician said at an event organized by the European Movement Germany. Giegold advocated moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in these areas and strengthening the European Parliament. So far, it is mainly smaller countries that are resisting the move away from unanimity: They fear that they would otherwise lose influence in politically highly sensitive areas.

Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, said that many member states were afraid that the “philosophy of consensus” would be lost as a result. Therefore, she said, it was first necessary to build trust in talks with governments. A group of countries, she said, supported reform and was already working on proposals to address the objections.

Discussions are underway, for example, on a voluntary veto waiver by willing states, higher approval hurdles than for the QMV, or retention of the veto right in defined, particularly sensitive policy areas. The Czech presidency’s goal is to identify the outlines of a possible compromise by the end of the year. tho

Orbán calls meeting with Scholz ‘fruitful’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) received Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the Berlin Chancellery on Monday. According to the German side, the talks focused on reactions to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Orbán described the evening’s talks as “fruitful”. “I am happy to tell you that he (Scholz) is still alive. So am I,” he said after the meeting, which he said lasted two hours. Both sides could be satisfied with the meeting, he said. All difficult issues had been addressed. However, Orbán did not give details.

The right-wing nationalist Hungarian head of government has been railing against the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia for months. Nevertheless, his country has so far always voted in favor of the punitive measures, which must be adopted unanimously. A few days ago, Orbán announced a referendum in Hungary on the sanctions.

Originally, a press conference with Scholz was not planned. This is actually the rule for visits by heads of government from European Union member states. But there are exceptions.

There was no word from the Chancellery on the talks. Orbán made his comments at an economic forum organized by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. On Sunday, he had already met former German Chancellor and CDU leader Angela Merkel and Armin Laschet, former Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia and current CDU foreign policy expert in the Bundestag. dpa

EU defense against economic blackmail takes shape

The European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade passed its draft for an anti-coercion instrument by a large majority, and thus took a big hurdle. Its purpose is to prevent any form of economic coercion, particularly from China. The committee’s deputies also voted in favor of immediately launching trilogue talks with the EU Commission and the Council of the European Union to advance the trade instrument faster. A vote in the European Parliament is thus not required.

The MEPs plan to tighten up the Commission’s proposal in some areas: According to the MEPs, even the threat of coercive measures by third countries should be enough for the EU Commission to take action. In addition, they call for more far-reaching measures to compensate for the damage caused to an EU country. The EU should be able to defend itself against aggressive countries with higher tariffs or by excluding their companies from public contracts in the EU.

“When third countries try to influence political decisions of member states by imposing targeted trade restrictions, the EU must not have the short end of the stick,” said CDU European politician Daniel Caspary. “In the future, the EU can react robustly to trade blockades, such as those imposed by China on Lithuania over the opening of Taiwan’s representative office, and impose countermeasures.” An agreement on the matter by the European Parliament, the EU Commission and the EU Council is expected before the end of this year. ari

Supply Chain Act: first exchange in the Environment Committee

Yesterday, the EU Parliament’s Environment Committee exchanged views for the first time on its opinion on the EU Supply Chain Act. Rapporteur Tiemo Wölken (S&D) presented the first points for the opinion, which mainly includes climate and environmental protection obligations for companies. The Legal Affairs Committee is the lead committee, while several other committees such as the ENVI Committee are co-advisory.

On environmental and climate issues, the Commission’s proposal still needs to be significantly improved, Wölken explained. In particular, he said, there is a lack of binding emissions targets for companies in their supply chains. He, therefore, proposes an obligation for companies to submit concrete climate plans based on economic criteria. “This includes staging targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions along the supply chain starting in 2030 in 5-year steps until 2050, in line with the European climate law.” With strong climate regulations in the Due Diligence Act, it would also be possible to accelerate the fight against climate change globally from Europe.

The Commission’s draft list of international environmental conventions with which companies must comply is also fragmentary and vague, with no mention of many of the possible negative environmental impacts. Wölken suggests that the definition of these influences be adjusted and a concrete list of environmental offenses be drawn up, including, for example, the impairment of water and air quality, the erosion of biodiversity and the endangerment of human health.

Inclusion of SMEs causes discussion

The inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises also remains a contentious issue in the Environment Committee, as the comments of the shadow rapporteurs showed. Wölken proposes their inclusion through an expansion of the scope of application and a risk-based approach to due diligence. Companies should be able to prioritize according to clear criteria such as the size of their influence, the level of their risk and the contribution to causation. It should no longer be possible to pass on obligations to contractual partners. This would also mean that smaller companies would be less overwhelmed by the requirements.

Wölken praises the proposal with regard to the introduction of a civil law action regime for companies in the event of failure to comply with due diligence obligations. This is a real success, he said, but it is not enough. “We need the reversal of the burden of proof, in which companies must prove that they have also fulfilled their obligations,” he said. “Imposing this duty on affected parties is not responsible.”

Additionally, Wölken wants to tighten up the Commission’s draft with regard to the responsibility of corporate management, thus fulfilling the claim made in Parliament’s own-initiative report.

Amendments to the opinion can be submitted until Oct. 17. The vote will take place in February. leo

ETS trilogue makes minimal progress

Only minimal progress could be made at the second ETS trilogue, according to parliamentary rapporteurs Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA) and Peter Liese (EPP). After four hours of negotiations on Monday morning, they had not been able to “agree on anything,” said Bloss, criticizing, in particular, the Czech Council Presidency.

He was very disappointed because the member states had not given the negotiators a mandate to finalize any open points, Bloss said. He fears that the Czechs are deliberately dragging out the trilogue and want to leave it to the upcoming Council presidency from Sweden. The Commission would also exert too little pressure, as the shadow rapporteur of the Greens criticized.

His counterpart from the CDU, Peter Liese, also presented only minimal progress but showed understanding for the Czech Council presidency. Their negotiators had a powerful program ahead of them with the trilogues on the Fit for 55 package. They have prioritized the Effort Sharing Regulation, LULUCF and the CO2 fleet standards for passenger cars, and want to finish these by COP27 so they can present something there, he explained. ETS and CBAM, on the other hand, should be finished by Christmas.

Agreement on benchmarks for steel industry

The major topics of ambition levels, ETS 2 and free allocations for industry had been discussed, both Bloss and Liese confirmed. However, there was no agreement. In any case, Liese said, he did not believe that these issues could be resolved before the very last trilogue.

The Commission’s proposals to raise the benchmarks for the steel industry, on the other hand, are off the table. These would have ensured that even more steel industry plants that do not meet the benchmarks would lose free emission allowances in addition to the linear reduction factor. According to Liese, however, the benchmarks will now remain as they are. In addition, electricity price compensation for indirect emissions is also to remain in place, Liese reported. This is important to avoid further price shocks in the wake of the energy crisis, he said.

The next trilogue round is scheduled for Nov. 10. Until then, so-called technical negotiations on detailed issues will continue to take place. luk

Combustion engine phase-out for trucks: Commission proposal delayed

The Commission will not present its proposal for CO2 fleet targets for trucks on Nov. 30 as planned. The item has been removed from the list of scheduled items on the agenda of future Commission meetings. Now the proposal is expected to come in the first months of 2023. The Commission has not yet given a new date.

The proposal will encourage further reductions in the average CO2 emissions of new trucks from each manufacturer. Manufacturers who fail to meet fleet targets will face penalties. The Commission is also expected to set an end date for the internal combustion engine in commercial vehicles. It could be 2040. For trucks, there is also the question of whether the Commission will allow synthetic fuels produced in a CO2-neutral manner to be counted under the C02 fleet limits. Observers do not expect this to happen. mgr

Sigrid Maurer – the provocateur as political realist

Sigrid “Sigi” Maurer doesn’t have much time to talk today. On the agenda are phone call after phone call about the accident at OMV in the summer (was it sabotage after all?), negotiations with coalition partner ÖVP about rising energy prices, a party meeting in the evening and Industry Day. As head of the Green parliamentary group in the Austrian National Council, Maurer has a lot to organize, coordinate and negotiate.

Does the unrest at the coalition partner ÖVP make the work more difficult? After all, there have been eight changes to ministerial and chancellor posts since the government was formed in January 2020. “The ÖVP is responsible for its own personnel policy. Of course, it’s difficult when the other party is not entirely stable, but that has calmed down in the meantime,” says Maurer, who, as with everything else, is not too keen to show his cards.

In general, Maurer is rhetorically quite the politician with the gift of leaving questions unanswered but directing the topic to what – in her eyes – is essential. She does not allow herself to be provoked, even in the face of critical questions about the government’s current low poll ratings, but is “surprisingly aggressive on the defensive,” as the Austrian news magazine Profil writes.

However, she doesn’t shy away from being provocative: When she received a lot of hate messages in 2017 after a talk show on the subject of sexual harassment, she posted a photo on Instagram, her middle fingers raised, with the words “to the haters with love”. In 2010, quite early in her political career, she throws leaflets from the visitors’ gallery into the plenary chamber of the National Council and is thrown out. Maurer is banned from entering for 18 months.

Difficult decisions in times of crisis

The 37-year-old Tyrolean got involved in politics while studying musicology and political science. When the course in musicology was to be abolished, she became involved in the Austrian Student Union. From 2009 to 2011 she is its chairwoman and supports the student protests in 2009/2010. A good preparation for federal politics: In 2013, while still studying sociology for a second time, she enters the National Council as a Green Party member of parliament, at the age of 28.

Since the 2019 election, the Greens have formed a Turquoise-Green coalition together with the ÖVP. Maurer inherited the chairmanship of the parliamentary group from Werner Kogler at the beginning of 2020, when Kogler became vice chancellor. Since then, a state of permanent crisis has prevailed with the pandemic and the Russian war of aggression. But Maurer only acknowledges this with a dry: “You have to take the crises as they come and see them as an opportunity.

On the issue of the energy crisis, in particular, what the Greens have been preaching for decades is now state reason. “Even the most conservative of conservatives now understand that we need the energy transition and that the climate crisis is not going away.”

Nevertheless, just as in Germany, the Greens are currently having to make decisions that would never have been expected of them. This would include, for example, converting certain power plants to fossil fuels to be prepared for emergencies. “At the same time as these emergency measures, however, it is now important to continue to become independent, not only of Russian gas, but of gas as a whole, and to rely on renewable energies,” Maurer says. One step towards this, she says, is the ban on gas heating in new buildings from January 2023.

Particularly close to the frequent commuter’s heart is the implementation of the climate ticket, a ticket for all regional and national public transport. “The ticket has been in various party programs for decades, and now it has finally been implemented,” she says happily. Lisa-Martina Klein