German ministries fail to agree details of climate deal: Sources
- 02 Oct 2019
German ministries have failed to agree on a set of climate protection measures, government sources told Reuters on Wednesday, leaving little time to fulfil Chancellor Angela Merkel's plan to pass the landmark package by the end of the year.
The disagreements between the environment, finance, economy and transport ministries could further erode the credibility of Merkel's right-left coalition, weakened by regional election losses and infighting, and up for review by the end of the year.
The ministries have been unable to agree on the scale of measures to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. These are due to include raising car and air traffic taxes as well as increasing a road toll for trucks from 2023, said sources briefed on the talks.
The ministries are also at odds on how many tonnes of CO2 each of those measures will shave off Germany's total emissions.
Merkel's conservatives and their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners agreed a budget-neutral outline for the climate package last month, although environmental groups said it did not go far enough.
The government had wanted the details to be presented to cabinet on Wednesday. The delay means there are only 10 days left for the government to sign the package off in time to get it through parliament before the end of the year.
Reuters
