"Important role" for the street: FDP paper seeps through - and should provoke Greens
Created: 2022-12-11, 8:34 p.m
By: Florian Naumann
Two parties, two very different views of road construction: Ministers Volker Wissing (FDP, left) and Robert Habeck (Greens) at a joint meeting.
© IMAGO/Chris Emil Janssen
Greens and FDP argue about road construction.
A new paper by the Liberals is likely to heat up the Zoff.
The approaches don't go together, admits an SPD colleague.
Berlin/Munich – A delicate dispute between the FDP and the Greens could escalate before Christmas: the two smaller partners in the traffic light coalition have been at odds on road construction in Germany for days.
Now an explosive plan by the Liberals has leaked out.
The ARD capital studio reported on Sunday (December 11) that the FDP party presidium should adopt a paper on Monday that calls for the planning to be accelerated for road construction projects as well.
The aim is to at least halve the duration of planning and approval procedures "for all modes of transport", according to the draft.
The road will “continue to play an important role in the future”.
The Greens shouldn't like to hear that.
Greens and FDP in street dispute: Wissing gets party support
Because the topic has been causing disputes between the FDP and the Greens for days.
Green politicians recently accused Volker Wissing's FDP-led Federal Ministry of Transport of violating the coalition agreement.
It is undisputed that approval procedures should be accelerated.
According to the Greens, this should not apply to the streets in Germany.
The FDP again accused the eco-party of blocking.
Now Wissing is apparently getting support from the party.
"Only with an efficient road, rail, waterway and cycle path network can we make investments quickly and meet the individual mobility needs of society," says ARD in the draft resolution.
I experience this firsthand almost every week.
I've been there from time to time in a moderator role.
The two approaches to transport policy by the Greens and the FDP do not necessarily go together.
SPD faction deputy Detlef Müller in the ZDF "Report from Berlin".
Wissing defended the plans on the ARD program "Report from Berlin".
"Of course I insist that these halving targets are actually implemented," Wissing explained.
This applies “to the entire infrastructure”.
The minister added: “Of course we also need road construction.
You only have to look at how many goods we transport on the road.”
The ZDF political magazine “Berlin direkt” also took up the topic on Sunday.
“The task at Deutsche Bahn is huge.
At the same time, we have one of the densest road networks in the world, so we have to make sure it's in good shape," said Greens traffic expert Stefan Gelbhaar.
If you take these two tasks seriously, there is "not much room for fantasizing about new construction".
Wissing again emphasized on ZDF that "the supermarket shelves should not remain empty" on the way to meeting the climate targets.
SPD parliamentary group leader Detlef Müller stated that the transport policy approaches of the FDP and the Greens “do not necessarily go together”.
However, Müller took sides a little: Railway projects and bridge projects should be treated as “priority”, he told the broadcaster.
Greens angry at the FDP: new road construction "not at the top of the list"
FDP faction leader Christian Dürr told
Bild am Sonntag
: "We want to halve the planning and approval times.
This also applies to roads, because nobody wants years of construction site chaos when building or renovating a motorway anymore.
"But accelerating without prioritizing - that doesn't work when resources are scarce."
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Germany has "a huge problem with the renovation of ailing bridges," said Dröge.
It was Wissing's job to "put the pace in here," she demanded.
"Financial and human resources have to be invested here, planning has to be digitized quickly so that we can be faster there." On the other hand, the new construction of roads "is not at the top of the list," emphasized the Greens parliamentary group leader.
"The debate about it is counterproductive." (
AFP / fn
)