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Increased calls for German Energy Ministry

Published: 30 Dec 12 14:16 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20121230-47051.html

More and more politicians are calling on the German government to establish an Energy Ministry after the next election, in the face of slow progress in the country's transition to renewable power sources.

"The significance of energy policy for our country would justify this step in my opinion," said Gerda Hasselfeldt, regional head of the Bavarian Christian Social Union.

The European Union's energy commissioner Günther Oettinger chimed in with the call, pointing out that other EU members already had their own energy ministry.

Oettinger added that Germany had suffered in the past from not being able to assert itself quickly and strongly enough in Brussels when it came to important energy issues.

He told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that Chancellor Angela Merkel would therefore "be well-advised to bundle responsibilities after the general election and install an Energy Ministry - regardless of who she governs with."

At the moment, responsibility for energy policy is divided between the Environment and Economy Ministries, which sometimes prevents the government from presenting a coherent line.

This was particularly evident in negotiations over the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive, as well as talks over emissions trading. For instance, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier supports the European Commission's plan to take surplus emissions certificates out of circulation, while Economy Minister Philipp Rösler opposes it.

The Local/DAPD/bk

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

16:53 December 30, 2012 by Englishted
Why not a Berlin airport minister as well if (as if more like) that speeds it up?.

"More and more politicians are calling on the German government to establish an Energy Ministry after the next election, "

Is that not a desperate attempt to justify their large costs,and little results?
20:17 December 30, 2012 by Eric1
This idea comes to you from the "Ministry of Stupid Ideas".
20:45 December 30, 2012 by Tonne
But Germany already has an energy policy. First, close down the nuclear power stations, in case they are swamped by a tsunami, then promote the destruction of 30.000 hectares of ancient forest to allow the surface mining of brown coal. With such thinking, a separate ministry is superfluous!
17:51 December 31, 2012 by anaverageguy
How about a new department in charge of pounding square pegs into round holes. Alternatives won't drive an industrial economy because some days (and even seasons) it's sunny and and sometimes it's not..... and other times the wind doesn't blow.

They may as well start planning the commission that will investigate why so many hundreds of millions of euro were spent on a scheme that was clearly doomed from the start to failure.
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