Fifty-two-year-old Katherina Reiche was already seen by many in Germany as combative before she was unexpectedly appointed as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's economic affairs minister in 2025. Environmentalists and climate activists have long regarded the politician from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as pro-business and pro-industry, and as an opponent of Germany's ambitious shift toward renewable energy.
After serving in the Bundestag from 1998 to 2015, the politician from Luckenwalde, Brandenburg — 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Berlin — moved into the energy industry. Some critics referred to her as a lobbyist.
Among other roles, Reiche served as chair of the executive board of Westenergie, the largest subsidiary of the energy giant E.ON. With around 10,000 employees, Westenergie supplies approximately 6.6 million people with a significant amount of fossil fuel energy.
Rolling back Habeck's policies
Shortly after taking office, Reiche made it clear that she intended to reverse the efforts of her predecessor, Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Green Party, to advance the energy transition in the heating systems of German homes. Approximately 72% of German homes are heated with natural gas or oil. Alongside transportation, the building sector is considered the one in which the country has made the least progress in implementing its climate policy. Both sectors have been missing targets for years.Habeck wanted to change that and drafted a law stipulating that new heating systems would have to be powered mainly by renewable energy. There were fierce protests against this, particularly in the eastern part of the country; Habeck was accused of forcing people to install expensive heat pumps.
