The federal government wants to expand the scope for state funding programs in the former coal regions and thus promote the establishment of new economic sectors. In a paper from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection available to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, it also emphasizes with regard to the eastern German coal regions that the legally agreed phase-out of coal-fired power generation by 2038 remains in place. "The Federal Government will not make any political efforts to change this statutory deadline." A possible market-driven phase-out before 2038, as well as measures by the federal states and coal-mining regions, would remain unaffected by this.
Economy and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), who is speaking at the East German Economic Forum in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg, this morning, had already spoken out in favor of an earlier coal phase-out in the east as well. With regard to the reform of EU emissions trading, the paper states: "In the event that coal-fired power generation is no longer viable well before 2038 and the phase-out also comes earlier in the eastern German coal regions, it is important to prepare the transition as well as possible now."
