The German Government is considering ordering Public Servants to work from home during the northern winter in an effort to address the worsening energy crisis brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Journalists are reporting that the proposal was on the table at a recent meeting of Federal Ministries, however, some of the larger Ministries are believed to have voiced objections.
One of the main sticking points is that there are not enough laptops and cell phones to equip all Public Servants.
The meeting also considered cooling offices to 19 degrees Celsius as an alternative – if this is too cold for officials, they would be allowed to work from home.
The background to the plan is a decree by Minister for Economics and Energy, Robert Habeck which includes energy-saving measures in public buildings.
The Government wants to save just under 20 terawatt-hours (TWh) of gas annually by lowering room temperatures in isolated cases to reduce the German gas consumption by around two per cent.
This is to be supplemented by further savings in electricity consumption of more than 10 TWh.
Germany, along with many European countries, has been facing energy shortages as Russia significantly reduced the supply of natural gas to Europe in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war on Ukraine.
German politicians have accused Moscow of using gas as a weapon to exert pressure on Berlin.
Chancellor, Olaf Schloz’s coalition Government has introduced a package of energy-saving measures to decrease consumption by 20 per cent and fill up gas storage facilities to 95 per cent by 1 November, in preparation for winter.
Berlin, 30 September 2022
