◈ Energy & electricity

The EU Parliament has adopted a report on gender equality in the care and support sector. The MPs are calling for various measures to reduce the unequal distribution of care and support work between men and women and to better secure care in the long term. Specifically, Parliamen…

Before the newly elected 19th state parliament is constituted on May 18, 2026, the previous Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament discussed an amendment to the state constitution to establish investigative committees in a special session. The reason is a bill from the SPD, CDU an…

In the Bundestag, a bill from the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group was rejected, which envisages a fundamental reduction in electricity taxes. The aim of the draft is to relieve consumers in the face of increased energy prices and at the same time create incentives for …

In the Bundestag, a motion from the AfD parliamentary group was rejected, which deals with measures against high fuel prices and is particularly directed against the introduction of a so-called excess profits tax. The background to the application is the current debate within the…

In particular, the Bundestag voted on a recommendation for a resolution on a proposal from the AfD parliamentary group, which deals with possible energy price shocks as a result of an escalating conflict in the Middle East. The background to the application is the concern that an…

In particular, the Bundestag voted on part of a federal government bill to implement EU Regulation 2024/2748 with regard to emergency procedures due to an internal market emergency for gas appliances and personal protective equipment, specifically on Article 3 amending Book Seven…

In its urgent motion, the SPD parliamentary group speaks out against plans for so-called small modular nuclear reactors (Small Modular Reactors, SMR) in Bavaria. According to the application, the state government should stop all preparations and planning for possible SMR projects…

In a motion submitted, the AfD parliamentary group calls on the Bavarian state government to advocate for changes to the Atomic Energy Act at the federal level. The aim is to make the development and construction of new nuclear power plants in Germany possible again. This is part…

In an urgent motion, the SPD parliamentary group is calling on the Bavarian state government to advocate measures at the federal level against sharply rising oil, gas and fuel prices. The background is the price increases as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and the blo…

The EU Parliament has examined a report on citizens' access to European Union documents. The aim is to strengthen the right of access to documents enshrined in the EU treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and to further improve the transparency of the European institutio…

A draft law was passed in the Saxon state parliament, which is based on a popular proposal entitled “5 days of educational time for Saxony”. The aim of the Saxon Educational Exemption Act proposed therein is to give employees in the Free State of Saxony a legal right to education…

The EU Parliament has voted again on a motion of no confidence against the European Commission - the current motion is the fourth against Ursula von der Leyen and her team in around six months. The vote of no confidence was initiated by the extreme right-wing “Patriots for Europe…

Representatives of the EU and the Mercosur states signed the joint free trade agreement on Saturday, January 17, 2026, in Paraguay's capital Asunción. The aim is to stimulate the exchange of goods and services by reducing trade barriers and tariffs. Immediately afterwards, the fu…

Following a recommendation from the Election Audit Committee, the Bundestag has rejected two objections to the federal election on February 23, 2025. The objections were directed against the election result of the “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht – Reason and Justice” (BSW) party, whi…

The state parliament has dealt with a motion on the future of public broadcasting. In it, the AfD parliamentary group calls on the state government to declare the termination of all central state broadcasting agreements by December 31, 2025, including the state media agreement, t…

The EU Parliament has adopted a regulation to permanently end the import of Russian natural gas into the EU. The new law is intended to protect the EU from security policy and economic risks caused by one-sided energy dependencies. Specifically, the regulation provides for the ba…

A draft law from the CDU, BSW and SPD parliamentary groups, which deals with the further development of the state forestry institute “ThüringenForst” and measures to deal with forest damage, was passed in the Thuringian state parliament. The background to the draft is the increas…

The EU Parliament has voted on new protection mechanisms for agricultural imports from the Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Specifically, it concerns an EU regulation that determines how tariff concessions for agricultural products such as poultry or be…

A petition to close the Wolfach emergency practice was voted on in parliament. The petitioner objected to the decision of the Baden-Württemberg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVBW) to close the on-call practice in Wolfach as part of a nationwide restructuri…

The Bavarian state parliament has voted on an amendment from the SPD parliamentary group to the planned new water abstraction fee (“water cent”). The application stipulated that in future water withdrawals would generally have to be recorded using technical measuring devices, in …

In the Bavarian state parliament, a bill from the ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary group was rejected in a roll-call vote, which was intended to regulate the participation of communities and the population in wind energy and photovoltaic systems. The aim of the draft was to i…

In a roll-call vote, the Bundestag dealt with a proposal from the AfD parliamentary group, which would like to completely abolish the law on saving energy and using renewable energies to generate heat and cold in buildings (Building Energy Act, GEG) and abolish the CO₂ pricing of…

The EU Parliament has spoken out in favor of a targeted simplification of the EU deforestation law and a postponement of the start of application by a further twelve months. A first one-year postponement had already been decided at the end of 2024 due to strong opposition. The re…

The state parliament in Brandenburg has rejected a proposal from the AfD parliamentary group entitled “For an honest health policy: create transparency, stop mRNA and vector vaccinations”. In the application, the parliamentary group criticizes the state's vaccination policy durin…

The EU Parliament has approved a proposal that will allow MEPs to transfer their voting rights to trusted colleagues during pregnancy and after birth. The new regulation for mothers should take effect three months before and six months after the birth. This change promotes the Eu…

An amendment from the ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary group to the federal government's bill to amend the energy tax and electricity tax law was rejected in the Bundestag. The federal government's original draft law provides, among other things, to ensure the continuation of…

Two bills from the AfD parliamentary group to eliminate the consequences of climate protection and restore the energy infrastructure in Germany were rejected in a roll-call vote in the Bundestag. In a corresponding recommendation for a resolution by the Committee for Economic Aff…

The Bundestag has approved a draft law from the federal government for a subsidy for transmission network costs in 2026. Network operators will receive a total of 6.5 billion euros from the climate and transformation fund so that the fees for using the transmission networks and t…

Two amendments were submitted to the state parliament for a roll-call vote on the SPD parliamentary group's motion entitled "Repayments of Corona emergency aid illegally demanded by Minister Dr. Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU) according to the Administrative Court: Extent of the damage t…

Two amendments were submitted to the state parliament for a roll-call vote on the SPD parliamentary group's motion entitled "Repayments of Corona emergency aid illegally demanded by Minister Dr. Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU) according to the Administrative Court: Extent of the damage t…

The Die Linke parliamentary group's bill for a "rent usury law" was rejected in the Bundestag. The rejection was also recommended in a corresponding recommendation by the Committee for Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection. The left-wing faction justifies the bill with the persis…

The EU Parliament has spoken out in favor of a new version of the regulation on the statute and financing of European political parties and foundations. The new regulation is based on a proposal from the EU Commission from 2021. The aim of the reform is to strengthen transparency…

The European Parliament has voted on a proposal for a regulation that includes simplified EU agricultural rules and a number of points to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain. It proposes a revision of several regulations in order to improve the position of…

A motion for a resolution by the AfD parliamentary group on refugee accommodation in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district was rejected in the Brandenburg state parliament. The group accuses the state government of inadequate supervision and calls on it to take action against the distr…

The AfD parliamentary group has submitted a motion to the Bundestag in which the group demands that the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear power plants be stopped immediately and that the reactors be put back into operation as quickly as possible. In the application, the nucle…

The EU Parliament has decided on its negotiating position on the reform of the package travel directive in a roll-call vote. The aim is to better protect travelers in the future if trips are canceled due to unforeseeable events or tour operators go bankrupt. It should be regulate…

In its 26th meeting, the Committee for Petitions and Complaints in Bavaria dealt with the petition "Objections to the planned asylum accommodation in Munich-Großhadern" and decided to declare it resolved. The committee's decision was voted on by roll call in the state parliament …

In its application, the AfD parliamentary group calls on the state government to ensure that Germany contradicts the changes to the International Health Regulations (IGV) of the World Health Organization (WHO), which were decided in June 2024. The AfD justifies this with the conc…

The ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary group has submitted an amendment to the state government's draft law for a new shop closing law for a roll-call vote. As a supplement to the original draft law, the group would like to use its amendment to ensure that larger supermarkets o…

The AfD parliamentary group's motion was discussed in the Bundestag, which calls for the establishment of a parliamentary committee of inquiry to deal with the corona pandemic. According to the group, the aim of the committee is to examine the political decisions and measures dur…

The EU Parliament has voted by a large majority in favor of introducing the euro in Bulgaria and joining the eurozone from January 1, 2026. The Bulgarian currency Lev is to be replaced by the Euro on this date. The country has made great progress in economic development in recent…

The state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate passed a new climate protection law in a roll-call vote. The state climate protection law stipulates that Rhineland-Palatinate should be climate-neutral by 2040, meaning that it should not emit more harmful gases than nature can absorb…

The state parliament voted in particular on two proposals to reduce VAT for the catering industry. The question is whether the VAT rate for the catering industry should be permanently reduced from 19 to 7 percent. This is actually introduced as a bill by the federal government an…

The state parliament voted in particular on two proposals to reduce VAT for the catering industry. The question is whether the VAT rate for the catering industry should be permanently reduced from 19 to 7 percent. This is actually introduced as a bill by the federal government an…

A motion from the ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary group was debated in the Bundestag, which is directed against a return to energy imports from Russia. The application calls, among other things, to permanently exclude the commissioning of the Nord Stream pipelines, to secure…

The EU Parliament has voted on a proposal for a regulation on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability. This sets out a series of measures intended to better regulate the trade in animals in particular. Among other things, microchipping and registering all dogs and cat…

The EU Parliament has voted on a directive on the voting rights of mobile EU citizens. It proposed new regulations for EU citizens who live in an EU member state of which they do not have citizenship. This affects 13.7 million people, of whom around eleven million are eligible to…

In a motion submitted, the AfD parliamentary group is calling for the abolition of the “onshore wind law”, which sets binding area targets for the expansion of wind energy. In its proposal, the parliamentary group criticizes the fact that the law leads to massive sealing of areas…

The EU Parliament has voted on more flexible EU requirements for filling gas storage facilities. A corresponding proposal from the EU Commission envisages extending the EU program for filling gas storage facilities from 2022 to December 31, 2027. The program was originally only s…