POTSDAM (dpa-AFX) - Following the approval of billions in compensation for the Rhenish operator RWE due to the coal phase-out, there is growing concern in the Brandenburg state parliament about disadvantages for the power plant operator Leag in Lusatia. "It fills us with concern that the proceedings of RWE and Leag are being handled separately by the EU Commission - perhaps even with different results," said CDU parliamentary group leader Jan Redmann on Tuesday. The state government must exert pressure, he demanded. "Brandenburg must not be treated worse than RWE in North Rhine-Westphalia."

The federal government is allowed to pay RWE 2.6 billion euros in aid for the early closure of its power plants in order to phase out coal by 2030. This does not violate EU regulations, the EU Commission announced on Monday. The EU has not yet decided on compensation of 1.75 billion euros for Leag, which wants to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2038.

SPD parliamentary group leader Daniel Keller sharply attacked Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens). "You get the impression that because a quick exit has been decided for RWE at state level (...) that there is a certain favoritism here - I take a critical view of that," said Keller. "We therefore now expect clarification from Federal Minister Habeck without delay."

Greens want earlier coal phase-out in Lusatia

The co-governing Greens defended the EU Commission. Due to Leag's later phase-out, this is not comparable to RWE, emphasized Green Party parliamentary group leader Benjamin Raschke. Due to expensive CO2 trading, the operation of the power plants would no longer be economically viable in 2038, he said. "This rightly raises the question for the EU Commission as to what compensation should be paid if there are no more profits." Raschke therefore believes that an earlier coal phase-out should also be negotiated in Lusatia.

Major concerns also among the opposition

Sebastian Walter, leader of the Left Party parliamentary group, sees the impasse surrounding Leag as proof that East German interests are not being seen in political Berlin. Should the funding be withdrawn, it would be a "complete disaster for the East", he said. Everything must be done to prevent a structural break.

Free Voter MP Matthias Stefke expects "the state government to go full steam ahead towards Brussels". The "top fireman", Minister President Dietmar Woidke (SPD), must also be sent into action.

AfD parliamentary group leader Hans-Christoph Berndt emphasized that a possible loss of funding would be bad. "But without a completely misguided policy, we would not have got into this bad situation," he emphasized./kp/DP/ngu