Dispute over planned U-committee on nuclear phase-out in Germany
Published: Friday, Jun 14th 2024, 13:40
العودة إلى البث المباشر
In a debate in the Bundestag on a possible committee of inquiry into political decisions before the final nuclear phase-out in Germany in 2023, representatives of the "traffic light" coalition and the opposition have made accusations against each other.
There is a suspicion that the public and the Bundestag have been deceived, said Patrick Schnieder, Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, in Berlin on Friday. "To date, there have been no satisfactory answers to the questions asked." Andreas Lenz from the CSU explained: "Party politics and party logic came before the good of the country."
The CDU/CSU suspects Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (both Greens) of not having examined the possible continued operation of the last three German nuclear power plants impartially. The two are accused of having suppressed internal concerns, which both ministries deny.
Following the attack on Ukraine by Germany's most important gas supplier Russia in February 2022, a debate broke out as to whether the nuclear phase-out stipulated by law for the turn of the year should actually be implemented. In the end, the operating life of two nuclear power plants was extended by three months.
SPD MP Jakob Blankenburg accused the Christian Democrats of: "What you are talking about is opinion making, election campaigning." Nina Scheer, spokesperson for climate protection and energy policy for the SPD parliamentary group, listed the arguments against continued operation. She recalled the safety review that had already taken place at the time and accused the CDU/CSU of zigzagging. It had once initiated the nuclear phase-out under Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). In the end, a political decision had been made, said Scheer.
The FDP, on the other hand, supported the committee of inquiry. The parliamentary group's energy policy spokesman, Michael Kruse, recalled the exploding gas prices in 2022, saying that Russia had started an energy war against Europe long before the attack on Ukraine.
Kruse recalled that the FDP had vehemently demanded the extended operation of German nuclear power plants at the time. However, the decision to do so had come too late; signals were needed to reassure the markets. He argued that the decisions surrounding the construction of the Russian gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 should also be dealt with in the committee of inquiry.
The decision to set up a committee of inquiry and its exact remit must be taken by the full Bundestag at a later session. The CDU/CSU parliamentary group, which has 195 of the 733 seats, has at least a quarter of the votes required.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish