Habeck's "Easter package": The minister is planning this for more climate protection and independence

Created: 04/06/2022, 10:30 am

By: Patricia Huber

With his "Easter package", Robert Habeck wants to boost the expansion of renewable energies.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

Economics Minister Robert Habeck wants to push ahead with the expansion of renewable energies with an "Easter Package".

The plans at a glance.

Berlin – The Ukraine war* has shown more than clearly how important it is to be independent of gas and oil from other countries.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens*) is now pushing ahead and launching his “Easter package”.

On Wednesday (April 6th), the Federal Cabinet wants to get this comprehensive package of laws underway for a faster expansion of green electricity from wind and sun in Germany.

On the one hand, this should help to achieve the climate goals, but on the other hand, it should also help to become less dependent on Russian energy.

According to government sources, renewable energies have become a national security issue.

The "Easter Package" is the largest energy policy amendment in decades.

It comprises a total of 56 individual laws and measures intended to advance the energy transition.

Robert Habeck's energy package should be decided before Easter

Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck had already announced the plans in January - "Easter package" because the cabinet should decide on the planned changes to the law before Easter.

The legislative package comprises a total of more than 500 pages, according to government circles.

In essence, it is all about changing the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).

In the future, renewable energies should be in the overriding public interest and serve public safety.

This is intended to speed up the approval process and facilitate court proceedings.

Because especially against new wind turbines there are often complaints*.

The expansion volumes for wind power on land and at sea as well as for solar energy are to be increased significantly.

The government circles said that the expansion of renewable energies on land and at sea would be raised to a completely new level, so that the electricity supply in Germany would be based almost entirely on renewable energies by 2035.

Power supply: Renewable energies should account for 80 percent

By 2030, at least 80 percent of gross German electricity consumption should come from renewable sources.

In 2021, according to industry information, this proportion was around 42 percent.

When presenting its opening balance sheet in January, Habeck said that the speed of reducing CO2 emissions had to be tripled, otherwise climate targets for around 2030 would be missed.

The legislative package also provides that electricity customers will be relieved of the burden on their electricity bills from the summer by means of an earlier abolition of the EEG surcharge.

The construction of new power lines is also to be accelerated, and new projects are also planned.

In the future, electricity customers should also be better protected against supplier bankruptcies and price jumps.

In addition, the financial participation of the municipalities in which wind farms are located is to be increased.

This should increase local acceptance.

Renewable energies instead of coal: phase-out as early as 2030?

Germany will phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022 and gradually phase out coal over the coming years.

The traffic light coalition is "ideally" aiming for a coal phase-out as early as 2030 - but that depends on whether a faster expansion of renewable energies can be achieved.

The planned goal of reserving two percent of the country's area for wind energy is not included in the "Easter package".

The federal government is currently in negotiations with the federal states.

In Bavaria in particular there are strict rules on the distance between wind turbines and residential buildings.

It is unclear whether the federal government will make the two percent target mandatory through changes in the building code.

The coalition is also working on an immediate climate protection program.

This should include measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and to achieve climate targets in transport.