ZEW President Achim Wambach on German Coalition Talks - An Opportunity to Structure the Energy Transition Has Been Squandered

Professor Achim Wambach, president of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, shares his disappointment in the collapse of the coalition talks between the CDU, Greens and FDP (also known as a “Jamaica coalition” because the parties’ colours replicate the Jamaican flag), especially with regard to new design options for Germany’s energy transition.

“It is becoming apparent that many of the goals of Germany’s energy transition, particularly regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, will not be met. This is an area of policy where a ‘Jamaica coalition’ combining ecological expertise and economic sense could have made some headway. But this opportunity the government could have had to focus squarely on CO2 prices and pursuing coordinated climate policy at the EU level has, for the time being, been squandered.

An appropriate solution needs to be found soon since the enormous tasks currently facing Germany, such as keeping up with the rapid pace of digitalisation or reforming EU institutions, cannot wait.”