Have cracks started to show in Germany’s traffic light government? Less than 18 months after chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic party (SDP) formed a coalition with the Green and Federal Democratic (FDP) parties, collaboration and harmony have been replaced by division – not least when it comes to the push for net zero.
Scholz summoned his coalition partners to a three-day summit last week. Their mission? To hash out policy differences that had been hanging over the government for several months. Emerging from 30 hours of negotiations, however, the SDP, FDP and Greens seem further apart than ever.
The main point of contention for the three parties is, perhaps surprisingly, the environment. Going into the summit, much was riding on the Greens’ ability to win policy concessions that would satisfy their membership. Environmental policies, which could be considered small wins, were indeed hammered out: investment worth several billion euros has been agreed for Germany’s rail network and domestic oil and gas heaters will be phased out of the country from next year.
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