Traffic light coalition: Robert Habeck warns of failure of talks

DER SPIEGEL Traffic light coalition: Robert Habeck warns of failure of talks Marc Röhlig 3 hrs ago | Actually, the SPD, FDP and Greens are on schedule with their self-imposed timetable, and SPD Secretary General Klingbeil expects agreement on the coalition agreement before St. Nicholas. But now Green Party leader Habeck is expressing reservations. The traffic light coalition is to be in place by the beginning of December - and the SPD and FDP are optimistic that it will work. The Greens, on the other hand, are increasingly skeptical. Now Green Party leader Robert Habeck has warned that the coalition negotiations could fail. There had been agreement that the next government would have to be a climate government, he told rbb-Inforadio. However, the question now is what the SPD and FDP have achieved on the subject of climate protection in the negotiations so far. Habeck referred to the 1.5-degree path laid down in the exploratory paper of the three traffic light parties and said that measures for this must be developed and wind turbines built. "On paper, yes, we haven't saved the climate yet, but if we don't get there, then we've failed in the coalition negotiations." He said it was not certain that an agreement would succeed in the targeted timetable - Habeck's co-party leader Annalena Baerbock had already expressed similar concerns. Formally, the sub-working groups had finished their work, Habeck said. On Monday and Tuesday, the main negotiating group should now meet with the party secretaries-general, he said. "Then we will try to cut through the knots." Climate protection is considered one of the most difficult issues in the SPD, Green and FDP negotiations. The 22 individual negotiating groups had finished their work on Wednesday. Since then, the results are being evaluated. Starting Monday, the negotiations are to continue in a large round. SPD Secretary-General Lars Klingbeil does not see the negotiations as being behind schedule. He is totally optimistic that the coalition agreement will be rubber-stamped on Dec. 4 and that Olaf Scholz will be elected chancellor the week after St. Nicholas, Klingbeil told Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. Earlier, FDP leader Christian Lindner had also said he was sticking to the agreed timetable.