Federal Constitutional Court: Merz evaluates heating ruling as a serious defeat for the government

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CDU leader Merz: The "unspeakable dealing" of the traffic light coalition with parliament is "now put a stop to"

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Jens Büttner / dpa

After the urgent application of CDU MP Thomas Heilmann to the Federal Constitutional Court for a postponement of the vote on the Building Energy Act (GEG) of the traffic light coalition was successful, members of parliament commented on it. The timetable for the vote before the summer recess has been postponed. The opposition triumphs, an FDP member of parliament blames the Green traffic light partners and the SPD leaders react calmly.

Heilmann called the court decision on Twitter "a great success for our parliamentarism". He had seen "massive deficiencies" in the law and complained of an "inadmissible shortening of the deadline" that made it impossible for him as a member of parliament to examine the bill.

Heilmann had described the procedure as "unconstitutional" when the urgent application was filed at the end of June and accused the traffic light coalition of ruining the heat transition with a "last-minute legislative package". The CDU politician had emphasized that his trip to Karlsruhe was "expressly not directed against the substantive goal of the law, but against the very deficient parliamentary procedure."

The CDU leader and Union parliamentary group chairman Friedrich Merz called the decision of the constitutional judges on Twitter a "heavy defeat for the federal government of Olaf Scholz". The "unspeakable dealing" of the traffic light coalition with parliament has "now been put a stop to". According to Merz, the government would be "well advised" to "take advantage of the ruling" to "pause".

"It was wrong to fall for the Greens here"

CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt expresses himself in a similar way. In an interview with the AFP news agency, he described the coalition's actions as "disrespectful treatment of parliamentary rights and the public," to which Karlsruhe has now erected a "stop sign." The traffic light should "go into itself" and "finally stamp out the Murks law," added Dobrindt with a view to the Heating Act.

A traffic light member of the FDP also evaluates the court decision positively. MP Frank Schäffler writes on Twitter: "The BverfG overturns the timetable for the heating law. That's a good thing. Thoroughness takes precedence over speed. It was wrong to fall for the Greens here." He calls the decision a "bitter slap in the face of parliamentary democracy". The Greens around Robert Habeck would have to ask themselves whether they were not "causally responsible for the strengthening of the political fringes".

In the reasons for the decision, the Federal Constitutional Court mentions the possibility of a special session of the Bundestag in which the law could be passed before the end of the parliamentary summer recess.

Rolf Mützenich, head of the SPD parliamentary group, told SPIEGEL: "We take note of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court and will not make a decision in the Bundestag this week. The further procedure and when the 2nd/3rd reading of the GEG will take place will be discussed by the parliamentary group chairmen of the traffic light on Thursday."

SPD parliamentary group deputy Matthias Miersch was relaxed about the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court. This does not concern "the content of the law," Miersch told the "Rheinische Post" (Thursday edition). A special session of the Bundestag must "now be discussed".

jso/AFP