German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Michele Tantussi)
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s governing coalition has put off until September a vote on contentious legislation to encourage the replacement of fossil fuel heating systems after the country’s top court shot down plans to push the bill through parliament this week.
The Federal Constitutional Court’s last-minute ruling on Wednesday night was awkward for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition, denying it the chance to move on quickly from a lengthy dispute over a central climate policy plan that has dragged it down in polls.
The government had hoped to get the legislation passed Friday, the last day before parliament’s summer recess. But the court blocked lawmakers from considering it this week, issuing an injunction sought by a conservative opposition member who argued that not having time for more detailed consideration would violate his rights.
Top coalition lawmakers conferred Thursday and then announced they would seek a vote in early September, when parliament’s next regular session is scheduled. They rejected the idea of convening a special session during the summer break.
The two junior partners in the coalition government led by Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party – the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats – spent months arguing publicly about the legislation before emerging in mid-June with a bare-bones compromise over plans to replace old fossil-fuel heating systems with alternatives such as heat pumps.
The compromise was firmed up into detailed legislation only last week, leaving opposition lawmakers angry with the coalition’s haste to get it passed before the summer break, as it had originally planned.
The heating issue is the biggest of several that have fueled an impression of constant squabbling in Scholz’s coalition, which brings together parties that aren’t traditional allies.
The legislation calls for the installation of new heating systems that can be at least 65% powered by renewable energy. It would apply to new housing developments starting next year, but otherwise provides for potentially lengthy transition periods.
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