In light of the war in Iran and its repercussions around the Persian Gulf, Green Party leader Franziska Brantner urged European cooperation to secure energy independence. “Europe’s energy policy has reached a tipping point again” she told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). “The sharp rise in oil and gas prices caused by the conflict in Iran painfully reminds us how vulnerable we still are, despite all progress”. The price spikes hit consumers and businesses immediately, while geopolitical tensions intensified. High oil prices have also worked like a stimulus for authoritarian regimes, for example for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Brantner called for a European task force on energy security that is operational, decisive, and clearly mandated. It should organise a coordinated, rapid exit from fossil dependencies, consolidate and accelerate investments in renewables, and systematically tackle bottlenecks in grids, storage and infrastructure. “Energy sovereignty is not an abstract vision; it is a matter of strategic resilience and economic strength” she stressed. “Our response to crises should not be more fossil dependence, but faster renewable deployment”.
Co‑party chief Felix Banaszak slammed Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU). He argued that her focus on affordability and supply security actually produces the opposite effect. “If she is serious, she must scrap the Heating Act, the grid package and the EEG amendment” he told RND. “These proposals must never become law, because they entrench fossil dependency”. He added that over 44 million tenants are being pushed into a cost trap, subjecting them to energy poverty by law. In contrast, solar power is inexpensive and widely acceptable. Brantner said, “Those who want to quickly and sustainably relieve people should lower the electricity tax for everyone instead of introducing such problematic laws”.
Under the reform plans of the governing Union and SPD, property owners will still be allowed to install oil and gas heating systems in residential buildings. Reiche’s grid package aims to eliminate compensation for new wind or photovoltaic parks in heavily burdened grid areas when the grid can no longer absorb the electricity. According to the new version of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), incentives for new small solar installations will be discontinued.