The governing coalition planned to pass the Building Energy Act, known as the heating law, on 7 July 2023. In late June, the coalition agreed on changes, and a synopsis of 94 pages followed on 30 June. A member of parliament, Thomas Heilmann of the CDU, applied to the Federal Constitutional Court. On 5 July 2023, the court ruled that the second and third readings could not take place that week. It doubted that the members could exercise their right to deliberate, given the strong compression of the timetable and the complexity of the bill.
Fourteen Days to Change Your Mind
A salesman rings the doorbell, and the customer signs a contract in the living room. German law gives the customer 14 days to undo it. The Civil Code grants a right of withdrawal, the Widerrufsrecht, for contracts concluded outside business premises. Die Widerrufsfrist beträgt 14 Tage. The period of withdrawal is 14 days. Der Widerruf muss keine Begründung enthalten. The withdrawal does not need to give a reason. The rule goes back to the law on doorstep sales, which came into force on 1 May 1986 and gave the customer one week. Today the period is set by EU law. Since 2014, the German law also names Kaffeefahrten expressly, the bus outings on which the organizer sells goods to the passengers. The reason for the rule is surprise. The EU directive on doorstep sales of 1985 spoke of an Überrumpelungseffekt, an effect of being taken by surprise. The customer closes the deal ohne ausreichende Überlegung, without enough thought.
Sleeping On It
überschlafen — To sleep on something. Duden defines it as thinking over a matter that needs a decision, and taking time for it at least until the next day. Das muss ich erst noch überschlafen. I have to sleep on that first.
sich Bedenkzeit erbitten — To ask for time to think. Ich habe mir bis morgen Bedenkzeit erbeten. I have asked for time to think until tomorrow.
Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat. — When time comes, advice comes. With time, a solution will be found.
Blinder Eifer schadet nur. — Blind zeal only does harm.
Twenty-Four Hours to Comment
Before the federal government sends a bill to the Bundestag, the ministry asks associations for their opinion. This is the Verbändeanhörung. The rules of procedure of the federal ministries require that associations be involved in good time, but they leave the length of the deadline to the ministry. In August 2023, the Chancellery gave associations a little more than 24 hours to comment on an 88-page draft of the law on the foreign intelligence service. Reporters Without Borders called it ein Trauerspiel, a sad spectacle. The critics asked for Gründlichkeit vor Schnelligkeit, thoroughness before speed. A paper published by the association Mehr Demokratie in May 2024 looked at 496 bills. The average deadline was 15.4 working days. The authors proposed at least four weeks.
Two Weeks With the Draft
A German who buys an apartment from a developer signs the contract in front of a notary. The Notarization Act, the Beurkundungsgesetz, sets a waiting period before that appointment. The consumer should have ausreichend Gelegenheit …, sich vorab mit dem Gegenstand der Beurkundung auseinanderzusetzen, enough opportunity to study the deed in advance. The notary should send the draft to the consumer. Dies soll im Regelfall zwei Wochen vor der Beurkundung erfolgen. As a rule, this should happen two weeks before the notarization. If the period is shorter, the notary should write the reasons into the deed. The rule is a response to the so-called Mitternachtsnotare, midnight notaries. These notaries worked inside the sales networks of property agents. A sales agent called a potential buyer and praised an apartment. At the next meeting, the agent took the buyer to the notary to sign. Since October 2013 the notary must send the draft himself.
Eight Days for 414 Objections
In the approval procedure for Tesla’s factory in Grünheide, near Berlin, 414 people and associations filed objections. The public hearing on them began on 23 September 2020 in the civic hall of Erkner. On the first day it did not get beyond questions of procedure. Three days had been planned. The hearing went on for eight days. Even so, critics said that it was ended too early, under pressure from the state environment ministry, and that not everyone had been heard.
Not Yet Ripe
entscheidungsreif — ripe for decision. Duden lists it as an example of the suffix -reif, for something developed far enough to qualify for something.
beschlussreif — ripe for a resolution.
kabinettsreif — ready for the cabinet.
Das ist noch nicht spruchreif. — That is not yet ripe for announcement.
nicht ausgereift — not fully ripened, said of a proposal that has not been thought through.
Wir haben noch Beratungsbedarf. — We still need to discuss this. The sentence stops a decision.
Der Teufel steckt im Detail. — The devil is in the detail.
Checked Before the Cabinet
Before a federal bill goes to the cabinet, the joint rules of procedure of the federal ministries require it to be sent to the Ministry of Justice. The ministry checks it in rechtssystematischer und rechtsförmlicher Hinsicht, for its fit with the legal system and for correct legal form. In July 2024, a pharmacy reform from Health Minister Karl Lauterbach did not reach the cabinet. According to Lauterbach, the legal-form check by the Ministry of Justice had not been finished, and he pointed to the justice minister’s vacation. The Ministry of Justice replied: Die Urlaubsplanungen der Bundesminister haben darauf keinen Einfluss. The ministers’ vacation plans have no influence on it. In August 2024, the bill again missed the cabinet agenda. The Health Ministry said that internal government deliberations were still going on.
The Orchestra Chooses Its Conductor
The Berlin Philharmonic was founded in 1882 by 54 musicians who wanted to govern and manage the orchestra themselves. The players elect their chief conductor. On 11 May 2015 they met to choose a successor to Simon Rattle. The meeting lasted eleven hours. After long discussions and several rounds of voting, there was no result. On 22 June 2015 it was announced that the orchestra had elected Kirill Petrenko.
The Vocabulary of Rushing
Mit heißer Nadel gestrickt — knitted with a hot needle. It is said of a law or a program that was made in a hurry. A newspaper wrote in 2007: Offenbar ist das Programm zum raschen Stellenabbau mit heißer Nadel genäht worden. (Evidently the program for fast job cuts was sewn with a hot needle.)
Hauruckverfahren — the heave-ho method. DWDS defines it as hasty, reckless action. A CDU politician said in 2006: Ein Ding, das für Jahrzehnte gelten soll, muss nicht im Hauruckverfahren entschieden werden. (A thing that is meant to last for decades does not have to be decided by the heave-ho method.)
Blinder Aktionismus — blind actionism. Duden defines Aktionismus as an exaggerated urge to be active, and notes that the word is often critical.
Generalstabsmäßig — like a general staff. Duden defines it as with military care and precision. Duden gives it no critical label. Its example is a bank robbery planned like a general staff operation.
Erst wägen, dann wagen — first weigh, then venture. It is the motto on a cast-iron wall relief of Helmuth von Moltke in uniform, made in Ilsenburg in 1891.
Gut geplant ist halb gewonnen — well planned is half won.