Green Yes to Merkel’s closing down / Oui vert à la sortie du nucléaire de Merkel

Jürgen Trittin: 'By voting NO we would risk aour credibility'

Berlin, sa 25 June – After a heated debate a special party conference of the German Greens aproved the Merkel government’s proposal to close down the country’s nuclear plants by 2022.

Après un débat animé, les Verts allemands ont donné leur accord à la proposition du gouvernement-Merkel pour fermer les centrales nucléaires allemandes d’ici 2022.

Notorious no-sayer

The decision put an end to a month of heated debates between the radical wing that demands, together with the anti-nuclear movement, a shutdown by 2017, and the realist party top that, preparing for government participation, wants to avoid being described as notorious no-sayer at all costs.

The outcome didn’t come as a surprise. The leadership, however divided over issues like military interventions in Libya, proved surprisingly united.  And many country and district branches already had told they didn’t want to confront the top.

Gesina Agena: 'Black-Yellow nonsense'

But the debate that preceded it, was tense. Outside the conference hall environment ngo’s were making clear that, by agreeing to 2022, the Grünen would dismiss themselves from the anti-nuclear camp. GreenPeace’s managing director referred to the Green Länder Council’s decision, only  three months ago, that the atomic age should end for good during the next legislature.

And Gesina Agena, spokesperson for the Green Youth that holds a close down in 2015 for possible, said: ‘Why should we agree to a consensus that was neither discussed nor negotiated with us ?’

Green victory

The party leadership, however, presented Merkel’s decision as a Green victory. ‘All who are in favour of 2017’, said Jürgen Trittin, environment spokesman in the Bundestag, ‘should vote for 2022, if they want to prevent a switching off in 2040‘.