The German Horticultural Association (Zentralverband Gartenbau - ZVG) takes an extremely critical view of the law to increase energy efficiency in Germany (Energy Efficiency Act - EnEfG) passed by the Federal Cabinet this week.
"With the currently proposed regulations of the new Energy Efficiency Act, medium-sized production companies in horticulture in particular would be massively affected and burdened with considerable obligations and massive bureaucratic duties," warns ZVG Secretary General Bertram Fleischer.
Instead of investing in energy efficiency measures and continuing to invest in sustainable measures with the help of the successful federal energy efficiency program, this would force many farms to give up.
In particular, the ZVG emphatically rejects the obligation to conduct elaborate, bureaucratic and costly energy audits with certifications and the compulsion to make investments. This represents a disproportionate encroachment on entrepreneurial freedom and will lead to considerable entrepreneurial restrictions on individual businesses due to the mandatory allocation of financial resources for efficiency measures.
"It is not the conversion to renewable energies that will be promoted, but only the structural change with the loss of family farms will be further fueled," Fleischer continued.
The farms have a vested interest in becoming more energy efficient. However, they do not need dirigiste interventions on this scale.
The ZVG's statement on the draft law can be downloaded here.