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CDU chief Armin Laschet
Photo: MARKUS SCHREIBER / AFP
For politicians, crises are usually also opportunities.
Those who master them, who have good ideas, who take courageous steps can distinguish themselves as doers.
As someone that people trust.
The Federal Constitutional Court's climate share is actually such an opportunity for Armin Laschet.
The previous laws are not sufficient for a generation-fair fight against global warming, it is said from Karlsruhe.
So politicians have to change course, big solutions are needed now.
And Laschet?
Hard time
The man who wants to become Germany's next chancellor will be in the CDU headquarters in Berlin on Monday.
In front of him: cameras, journalists waiting.
The historic verdict was four days ago.
In the morning Laschet once again exchanged ideas with the leading Christian Democrats in the CDU presidium about the climate course.
Laschet has had a tough time.
The chaotic candidate selection, the lousy polls have ruined the start of the election campaign.
Is the departure coming now?
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Armin Laschet
Photo: Andreas Gora / POOL / EPA
It is, let me immediately say, not much of this on this Monday.
In the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, Laschet speaks of »freedom of action and planning security«, »technological leadership« and »approval procedures«.
It's a pretty wooden appearance.
But what, from Laschet's point of view, has to weigh even more heavily: In terms of the external impact, he is once again only the one who reacts, who brakes, who slowly trudges after others who have pushed ahead.
This is once again the fault of Markus Söder, whom Laschet has just laboriously defeated in the fight for the candidacy for chancellor.
Söder also appears in front of the press this Monday, about three hours before Laschet.
He too talks about the climate - and once again he takes the opportunity to present himself.
He has prepared pithy sentences.
"More coal for less coal," goes one.
Germany must become a "role model" for ecological economics, another.
Very specific in terms of content
That sounds more catchy and gripping than with Laschet.
But not only that. In fact, Söder, under whose leadership only an ambitious climate protection law has been passed in Bavaria so far, is now very concrete in terms of content.
Germany must become climate neutral by 2040, he says.
So far, the federal government has been aiming for the year 2050.
Söder wants to enable a faster coal exit through financial incentives.
In a direct comparison, Laschet remains rather vague.
Climate neutrality?
"Well before the middle of the century."
Coal exit?
As a legislator, one shouldn't keep adding up at short notice.
Of course, Söder's appearance is one of those mean things he's known for.
To phase out coal, for example, he can easily demand a lot, the power plants play no role in Bavaria, his state - but they do in North Rhine-Westphalia, where Laschet rules as Prime Minister.
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CSU boss Markus Söder
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
Instead of standing behind the joint chancellor candidates from the CDU and CSU, Söder Laschet drifts in front of him.
That, so it can be heard, also causes frustration in the CDU presidium.
But in the end it is Söder who strikes the more powerful tone on this generation issue.
What kind of election campaign will this be for the Union and its candidate for Chancellor?
Your own party: split.
His authority: scratched.
The competition: everywhere.
The topics: when in doubt, not his
A driven man
Laschet seems like a driven man these days.
And not only in climate policy, where Söder has long been putting pressure on him - but above all the strengthened Greens, who, as an eco-original of the Union with their front woman Annalena Baerbock, have even rushed away in the polls.
Laschet is in a quandary, for which he cannot help at all at first.
Politically, it must meet the demands of the climate crisis and prevent more moderate Union voters from migrating to the Greens.
At the same time, however, right-wing and economically liberal forces are pulling on him, who want to sharpen the conservative profile of the CDU again after the Merkel era.
Friedrich Merz, for example, has only just warned against a "legislative snap shot" when it comes to the climate.
Merz is the idol of the hardliners in the Union, one of Laschet's biggest competitors in recent months.
The CDU boss is now trying to contain him and recently brought him into his campaign team.
But Merz is not his only problem.
The Christian Democrats in South Thuringia, Bundestag constituency 196, recently caused anger from the far right. There, the CDU made ex-Constitutional Protection President Hans-Georg Maassen their direct candidate for the September election.
A man who could question Laschet's clear and unequivocal rejection of any cooperation with the AfD.
Laschet's balancing act
For Laschet, all of this means a balancing act.
Can he make peace with the right in the Union without tearing apart the party and without poisoning the atmosphere between blacks and greens?
In any case, developments in the eco-party, a possible coalition partner of the Union, are being closely monitored.
The anticipation of an alliance with a party in which people like Merz and especially his fans set the tone would at least be severely limited.
After all: In the corona pandemic, in which Laschet has so far been able to collect few points publicly, relaxation may be approaching.
The number of infections is currently falling, the rate of vaccination is increasing.
There has long been hope in the Union that a summer that is less worrying for the people could turn the mood in favor of the CDU and CSU.
Then, according to the calculation, mask affairs, vaccination disasters and chaotic prime ministerial meetings would no longer dominate the headlines.
The only question that remains is whether less bad news is enough for Laschet to catch up.