Accusations against two ministers - Bundestag gives green light for U-committee on nuclear phase-out
The German Bundestag has approved the establishment of an investigative committee on Germany's nuclear exit. For the corresponding motion by the Union faction, the CDU/CSU and AfD parliamentarians voted in favor in the afternoon. With this approval, the required consent of at least one quarter of the German Bundestag members was achieved.
The committee can therefore, as planned, convene for its constituent session. Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) will open the first public session in the evening.
Allegations against Habeck and Lemke
The Union faction in the German Bundestag requested the investigative committee to shed more light on allegations related to decisions regarding the continued operation of German nuclear power plants. In focus are the two Federal Ministers for Climate and Environment, Robert Habeck and Steffi Lemke (both Greens). The Union accuses them of not having examined the continued operation of nuclear power plants "objectively" and "impartially."
It's about nothing less than the question of whether "the public was deceived in the decision to shut down the last three nuclear power plants," said CSU Bundestag member and energy politician Andreas Lenz to the German Press Agency.
Our faction will demand the necessary transparency in the proceedings and clarify the responsibility for the events surrounding the nuclear exit. Lenz is one of the future committee members.
Lemke sees investigation "very calmly"
Federal Minister of the Environment Steffi Lemke told the dpa that she would face the committee "very calmly." "Setting up investigative committees is the right of the opposition," she emphasized. Her government has "answered all questions of the parliament and the public transparently from the start." The facts are on the table, Lemke said.
Germany had left nuclear energy usage by mid-April 2023. The last three reactors were permanently shut down. Before that, the federal government had decided, due to the energy crisis caused by the Russian attack war on Ukraine, to keep the reactors running for a few more months. Originally, the nuclear exit was supposed to be completed by December 31, 2022. The duration of the continued operation of the power plants and the decision for the final nuclear exit caused both internal government and opposition debates and disputes.
The now approved investigative committee is, besides the committee on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the second such body in this legislative period.
Investigative committees are considered the "sharpest weapon of the opposition." To set one up, at least one quarter of all Bundestag members must agree. With 195 of a total of 733 Bundestag members, the Union faction would have met this requirement even without the support of AfD members.
- The approved investigative committee in the Bundestag will focus on allegations against Federal Ministers for Climate and Environment Robert Habeck and Steffi Lemke, both from the Green party.
- The Union parliamentary group, including the CDU/CSU and AfD, pushed for the establishment of the committee to scrutinize decisions related to German nuclear power plants.
- The committee aims to investigate whether the public was misled in the decision to shut down the last three nuclear power plants, as claimed by CSU Bundestag member Andreas Lenz.
- Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) will preside over the first public session of the committee, which is expected to take place in Berlin.
- Steffi Lemke, one of the ministers under investigation, remains unfazed, stating that investigative committees are a legal right of the opposition and that her government has been open and transparent in answering questions about the nuclear exit.
- The committee's formation comes following the German Bundestag's approval of the nuclear exit and the temporary extension of the operation of nuclear power plants due to the energy crisis triggered by the Russian attack on Ukraine.
- The now-approved investigative committee, along with the one on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, makes it the second such body in the current legislative period.
- The committee is considered a powerful tool for the opposition to hold the government accountable, and its establishment requires the agreement of at least one quarter of all Bundestag members, a requirement met by the Union faction despite the AfD's support.
- The ongoing investigation into the nuclear phase-out and the continued operation of power plants, as well as the contradictions within the Federal Government and opposition, remains a focus in the German parliament, Bundestag, and the mainstream media such as Focus.
