After all, the winter weather on Friday spread the whiff of an excursion atmosphere for the traffic light coalitioners when they found themselves in the white powdered Chancellery in the morning. 44 days after taking office, the first closed conference of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his ministers was on the agenda. Former federal governments had held their opening exams in Meseberg Castle.
The baroque building in the district of Oberhavel, around 70 kilometers north of Berlin, always offered the opportunity for cabinet members to get together in the evening with a glass or two of wine. But because of the pandemic, the trip to Brandenburg was canceled this time.
Things were much more business-like and sober on Friday in the Chancellery, where plans for the coming months were discussed. Instead of the baroque hall, people met in the Corona-safe international conference room, where regular cabinet meetings are also held at three ring-shaped rows of tables and seats. The setting also fits in a way, because the government is in crisis mode.
At the start of the meeting, Scholz announced that his government had big plans. Every day, the work is “also determined by the current challenges,” said the Chancellor, referring to the pandemic and the conflict with Russia. He spoke of “a very difficult situation for Ukraine and the issue of security and peace in Europe”. Not only the Foreign Minister, but also Scholz himself is required as a crisis manager in the conflict with Russia.
However, the central topic of the retreat was the planning of this year’s German G7 presidency. “G7 is the big issue that Germany has to move on the global level this year,” said Scholz after an eight-hour retreat in the early evening. The coalition partners have decided to work together with the other leading industrialized countries on climate protection and to enter into climate partnerships. “We want to ensure that each country does not go it alone, but that they come together to form a climate club,” said Scholz.
Scholz and his cabinet members also want to use their presidency for global cooperation against the pandemic and to strengthen international cooperation and democracies worldwide. The high point of the presidency at the end of June is the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps.
The coalition partners had set planning acceleration as a further focus of the meeting. “Our country is tied up,” stated Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) after the exam. One hinders oneself “through self-imposed procedures”. Instead, it must be “about unleashing the economy”. In order to achieve some of our own climate goals, approvals for new wind turbines, for example, will have to be granted more quickly in the future. But they also want to accelerate the expansion of rail transport and the approval of apartments.
Things should also go quickly with a matter close to Scholz’s heart, which he campaigned for in the election campaign: the minimum wage. A schedule from the Ministry of Labor, which was confirmed to the Tagesspiegel in the evening, stipulates that the minimum wage should rise to twelve euros as early as October 1st. The minimum wage is currently €9.82 per hour. The increase in the purchasing power of Germans and thus strengthen the economy. Also because of the rapid increase in energy costs, the traffic light on the subject had pushed the pace.
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The coalition is also concerned with the consequences of a further escalation with Russia. “Any military aggression against Ukraine would have a high price,” said Scholz, but left open whether he also meant sanctions against Russia in connection with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Not least because there is a fear that Putin could turn off the gas supply in winter. In view of the high energy prices, the traffic light apparently wants a quick abolition of the electricity price surcharge for renewable energies (EEG surcharge).
After the SPD, representatives of the Greens and FDP also spoke out in favor of an end to the levy this year. “In view of the rising energy prices, private households and companies urgently need noticeable relief,” said FDP Vice-Chairman Lukas Köhler.
Habeck: “In principle, a government always agrees”
The latest surveys show that you have to deliver quickly. Hardly in office, the satisfaction with the traffic light already seems to decrease. In a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov, 45 percent of those questioned were dissatisfied with the traffic light, with 37 percent being satisfied. 47 percent are rather dissatisfied with Scholz. But the coalition partners don’t have to worry. A week ago, the pollsters of the government’s “political barometer” still attested high levels of satisfaction.
Despite all the demonstrative unity in the Chancellery, dissent was also noticeable. A statement on the taxonomy plans of the EU, which want to label nuclear and gas power as sustainable, was not available after the exam, but had to be sent to Brussels by midnight. And even with sanctions for Nord Stream II, as demanded by the Greens, the traffic light actors tried to be diplomatic. “It’s a government,” said Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. “And a government is always in agreement in principle.” The Green politician only half refrained from winking.
