On action – an interview with Annalena Baerbock by Der Spiegel ( Valerie Höhne, Martin Knobbe, Jonas Schaible):

‘DER SPIEGEL: This new start requires money. But the current plan does not call for any tax increases. You are currently looking for ways to finance the program and avoid violating the country’s debt-brake laws, which limits how much debt Berlin can take on. What kind of solutions are you looking at? Baerbock: It’s no secret that, out of fairness, we would have liked to have raised the top tax rate and, at the same time, lowered it for middle and lower incomes. But the FDP had other positions. We also need investments for the important infrastructure measures. For this reason, we will use the leeway available under the current debt brake and take out loans, just like every successful business does.’

(…)

‘DER SPIEGEL: What, then, do you think of the comments from your future coalition partner Christian Linder, who told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the FDP is not concerned with gender parity in its own party and in the distribution of posts? Baerbock: I don’t get involved in the FDP’s internal issues. A government of progress should of course not base its orientation on the last century.
DER SPIEGEL: It’s a simple calculation: If the Social Democrats (SPD) distribute their cabinet posts equality but the FDP names two men and one woman, it will only be equal if you appoint more women than men to the cabinet.
Baerbock: We still have a lot of challenging issues in front of us in the coalition negotiations. The process of resolving them will be easier the less we burden the process in advance by talking about who gets what post.
DER SPIEGEL: Will you become vice chancellor? After all, Robert Habeck isn’t a woman.
Baerbock: I can confirm that Robert Habeck is not a woman. And I can also confirm that we have agreed on everything together in a confidential conversation.’

(…)

‘DER SPIEGEL: The exploratory paper had little to say about one of your favorite political topics: foreign policy. What do you want to achieve? Baerbock: Germany needs to return to having an active European foreign policy. For a long time, there was no answer from the German government to Emmanuel Macron’s most recent suggestions for far-reaching reforms. It is time for a new German government to give a new boost to Franco-German cooperation – and thus also a boost for Europe. We need a foreign policy that is led by values. That is clearly enshrined in this exploratory agreement.’

(…)

‘DER SPIEGEL: You wanted to mandate the installation of solar panels on all new roofs to rapidly expand renewable energy. That’s not in there now.
Baerbock: Of course, it is.
DER SPIEGEL: The obligation only applies to commercial roofs, not private ones. It says that "it should become the rule” for the latter. That sounds pretty vague.
Baerbock: No, it’s very far-reaching. On new roofs, whether private or commercial, solar panels will become standard. That will give us a big boost for renewable energy. The distinction between a mandate and a rule is something for legal nitpickers.’

(…)

‘DER SPIEGEL: The left wing of the party is now primarily pushing for improvements to social policy. Is that becoming more important to the Greens than climate protection? Baerbock: Climate protection and social justice go hand in hand. We will not be able to run this country in a climate neutral way if we don’t bring every person along with us. For this reason, the future guiding principle will be that of a socio-ecological market economy.
DER SPIEGEL: In a discussion about social benefits on German television, Robert Habeck essentially said that if the government takes care of people’s energy bills, it is "an invitation for people to open the windows with the heating turned all the way up.” Do you share this view? Baerbock: I’m afraid that I have also sometimes opened the window while having the heating way up because I wasn’t thinking. The current high gas prices are a delicate foreign-policy issue and, at the same time, a real social burden for people with low incomes. And increasing Hartz IV payment rates by 3 euros, as had been the case, was a joke. For this reason, we want to recalculate the rates.

Read the interview here.

A few takeaways. The fight for more justice (equality) can slowly but steadily become sheer absurdism.

The Greens want to cozy up to Macron and his grand ideas. Let’s see how long their voters will like that.

Change and nitpicking go hand in hand.