Climate‑protection minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) urged a swift agreement on new rules for heating‑system replacements and called for corrections in the accompanying subsidies. “Everyone from the heating‑construction sector to the installers, the energy industry and the municipal associations is saying: stop making a new chaos, keep amendments to a minimum, and finally give us planning certainty” Schneider said to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (Saturday edition). “We should heed this warning and quickly provide clarity”.
The coalition had announced in December that it would present the core parameters for the “Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz” (building‑modernisation law) by the end of January. The law is intended to become part of the “Gebäudeenergiegesetz” under the traffic‑light government. Negotiations between the ministries of economy and housing, as well as the parliamentary leaders of the Union and SPD, are currently stalled.
Schneider warned that the rules in the so‑called Heating Law could be softened. “For me it is essential that we achieve the CO₂ reductions” he stressed. “That is not only important for the climate but also fairer for household budgets. Gas and oil are getting more expensive; if we do not push people to switch to renewable heating now, we risk locking them into a cost pitfall”.
At the same time, he urged a reorientation of the subsidies for renovations and heating‑system swaps. “We should tie the state grants more tightly to social criteria” Schneider noted. The aim is to enable households with middle and lower incomes to heat their homes sustainably and affordably in the long term. “Historically, the focus has been too much on emission reduction and not enough on a fair distribution of the state aid. The result was that a disproportionate share of the money ended up with the top ten percent. That has rightly frustrated many people. It is the government’s responsibility to do better”.