Overview
- Coalition leaders Dirk Stettner (CDU) and Raed Saleh (SPD) told the BaumEntscheid group they will accept its draft in its essential form and will not introduce a separate bill.
- The timetable sets a Hauptausschuss hearing for 8 October, a committee recommendation on 17 October, and a special plenary decision targeted for 3 November.
- The initiative welcomed the reversal but urged CDU and SPD to table concrete positions quickly, offering small‑group talks and saying remaining gaps could be closed in a few meetings.
- Open issues include the mandate and independence of a proposed Kontrollrat, where to site hundreds of thousands of plantings, and how to staff and fund ongoing maintenance.
- Costs remain disputed—initiative now estimates €3–4 billion, the Senate about €7 billion, SPD €3–10 billion—with the coalition signaling reliance on federal special funds; approval would also remove the need for a referendum to reach the one‑million‑trees-by‑2040 goal from roughly 440,000 today.