According to a legal opinion commissioned by the European Union faction, the contentious Building Modernization Act (GModG) is constitutional. The opinion, which was reported by the “Handelsblatt”, written by legal scholar Johann-Christian Pielow of the Rosin Büdenbender law firm, states that the law does not “structurally undermine” the statutory goal of climate neutrality.
Pielow argues that the 2021 ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court regarding climate protection did not establish an “absolute ban on individual rollbacks of climate protection instruments.” He explains that the constitutional judges’ decision focused exclusively on the distribution of the total emission reductions required by 2045, thereby setting the overarching guidelines for Germany’s climate policy on a macro level. They did not, however, rule on specific individual measures at the micro level.
By implementing the “Bio-Treppe” (Bio Staircase concept), the legislature is exercising its broad scope for design. This measure distributes the burden of emissions fairly across generations, consequently neither causing an unconstitutional “full stop” nor creating a shortage of transformative and developmental pressure. Furthermore, the expert concludes that the act does not violate the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
