boom The Chancellor has spoken. And a word of power. The three German nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland should be able to continue supplying electricity until April 15, 2023. Olaf Scholz hopes that this will settle the dispute between the Greens and the FDP over energy policy. In the comment columns of the German media, his actions are usually not interpreted as a strength. The press reviews:
“Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Munich): “Scholz’s Basta is not a word of power, but a letter of power. Scholz did not put himself on a stage to pose as a powerful, last authority. Instead, he instructed three ministries in a public letter to let three German nuclear reactors run until April 2023. In it, Scholz refers very dryly and coolly to his authority to set guidelines, which are granted to him by the constitution. Translated, this means: I am the boss, and you do it now. For the patient mediators According to Scholz, this is an almost brutal approach and a complete breach of style. Rarely, if ever, in recent history has a Chancellor so visibly demoted his coalition partners to ministerial recipients of orders.”
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “(It was) high time for legal and technical reasons that a decision was made. It is correct in the matter. In the current situation, shutting down even one of the last three available nuclear power plants would be madness in terms of energy and foreign policy . How can you ask neighboring countries, especially France, for active solidarity in winter if you don’t use your own energy sources?”
“Bild” newspaper (Berlin): “Today, nobody can reliably predict when the war and crisis will really be over. Nobody knows how well or badly Germany will get through the winter. And nobody knows whether we will have enough energy in spring – or not Just not. The chancellor’s first word of power must therefore be followed quickly by a second: the nuclear power plants must run for as long as necessary!”
“Badische Zeitung” (Freiburg): “In this matter (..) the Chancellor’s order marks the only possible compromise between his traffic light partners who are at odds over the nuclear issue (and probably also in the SPD). A consensus for minimalists. The FDP gets for a good three months another reactor in the so-called stretch operation, which the Greens had strictly rejected at the weekend. But after April 15th, the use of nuclear power plants should finally be over. This would (…) be the prerequisite for a limited lifetime extension from Tisch. Will that help against Putin’s energy war, possible gas and electricity shortages and skyrocketing energy prices? One can only hope that the winter will be mild and that next year will be miraculously relaxed.”
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Hamburg): “How confidently does a chancellor rule who, after just ten months in office, wrote to three ministers in an official letter that he had made the following decision in accordance with his policy competence? What about the authority of a head of government who in After three long conversations, two brawlers in his own shop can’t be pacified for the sake of the traffic light coalition and the country’s energy security? In the end, he played the policy competence as the penultimate power option. A chancellor only does that once. Next time, Scholz can ask for a vote of confidence By the way, the chancellor made the right decision on this matter, even if it came much too late.”
“Badische Latest News” (Karlsruhe): “In the tough dispute about the planned extension of the lifetime of nuclear energy, only one thing was recently extended: the tough dispute. Even after a top-level meeting on Sunday in the Chancellery of Olaf Scholz (SPD) with the nuclear antipodes Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), the traffic light coalition was unable to report an agreement. But then Scholz spoke a word of power. Ultimately, all three negotiators can be satisfied with that. Scholz has shown that he can lead when it is ordered . And Habeck and Lindner can tell their party officials that this time the boss just couldn’t do more.”
“Rheinpfalz” (Ludwigshafen): “On both sides, with the Greens as well as the FDP, the dispute was ideological – which made a compromise impossible. Olaf Scholz has finally pulled the emergency brake: All three nuclear power plants are to be in operation until April 15th For the Greens, the chancellor’s word of power means a violent smack, but Habeck will be secretly relieved: In front of his party, at least he’s not there as a flop.
