Conservatives’ economic council issues “list of demands” for energy and climate policy

In a document named Energy Agenda 2030, the Economic Council of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU has issued a “list of demands” for designated economy and energy minister Peter Altmaier. A “readjustment” of Germany’s energy and climate policy “towards more market and more Europe” was necessary to ensure that the energy transition can be continued with success, said the Economic Council’s secretary general, Wolfgang Steiger. The Conservatives’ council says Germany’s energy system needs to become more flexible and innovative, which was being hampered “due to politically imposed high power prices”. The council argues that “no other state in the EU has saved more CO₂ emissions than Germany in the past 30 years”, and it was now necessary to “not talk this success down” but rather to strengthen it. The council rejects a carbon floor price in Germany and wants to “strengthen and expand” the EU emissions trading system (ETS) instead. It also argues that Germany’s Renewable Energy Act (EEG) “has fulfilled its purpose” of funding the expansion of renewable energy sources and needed to be “phased out” as wind and solar power have become competitive.
The CDU's Economic Council is no internal party organ but rather a business association positioning itself close to the CDU's economic policy principles.

Find the council’s press release in German here and the Energy Agenda 2030 in German here.

See the CLEW interview with government energy policy advisor Andreas Löschel for more information.