Enlarge image
Daimler truck boss Daum: Fast remedy required
Photo: Britta Pedersen / picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild
In view of the gas shortages, the anger in the industry about the energy policy of the federal government and the bureaucracy in the German offices is growing.
The boss of the commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck, Martin Daum, complained in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" that the regulations hindered a reduction in gas consumption instead of making it easier.
"It's the bureaucracy like with Asterix and Obelix." Specifically, it's about using heating oil as a fuel instead of gas.
more on the subject
Assessment of the Federal Network Agency: Gas emergency can hardly be predicted
Habeck gives himself time: payment of the gas levy is not due until the end of October
Live data on the energy crisis: Europe's natural gas supply at a glance
Business associations and politicians have been dealing with the issue for months.
Now the manager complains about the bureaucratic hurdles.
The background: Many industrial companies could switch from gas to oil without major problems.
In some companies, dual-fuel burners were already installed.
Others have upgraded in recent months.
"We would like to save gas, but we can't because of the emission control requirements," Daum told the newspaper.
»We have an operating license under the Federal Immission Control Act.
The change requires expert opinion and justification.«
Associations and politicians such as Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger had asked the federal government to remedy the situation quickly.
The Bundestag will only decide at the end of September or beginning of October whether the bureaucracy can be reduced, complained Daum.
"Sometime at the end of October we may be allowed to switch."
mik/dpa-AFX