BERLIN/PARIS, Dec 17 European countries have limited the temperature in parliaments and government bodies and are now forced to warm up in order to work. Correspondents watched what was happening.
Public buildings in Germany, for example, from September 1 are only heated to 19 degrees, this measure also applies to the German Bundestag, which forces politicians to dress warmer at meetings.
So, at the debates in the parliament on December 14, many participants in the discussions sat in coats and jackets, thick scarves and turtlenecks. German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht (SPD) was no exception, wearing a warm jacket over a turtleneck. German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock (from the Green Party) also preferred a warm outfit to a formal suit. Some deputies wrapped themselves in thick stoles, at the same time throwing a blanket over their feet, many of them rubbing their frozen palms.
Earlier, the co-chair of the Green Party in the Bundestag, Renate Künast, complained on her Twitter that she was freezing while working in her Bundestag office. Her post garnered over 3,000 comments, many of which were tinged with gloating. The MP also said in her account that she intends to come to her office with a blanket, a heating pad and a hat.
Deputies of the French Parliament, whose premises are no longer heated above 19 degrees, also resort to different methods of heating.
«My office is in the attic and it rarely gets above 16.5 degrees. I use a heated blanket, it's very effective!» — BFMTV quotes an unnamed deputy from the Socialist Party.
After the adoption of the so-called «energy sobriety» plan, the French deputies should «set an example» to the rest of the French in matters of economy. But the building of the National Assembly of France, built in 1722, is equipped with huge windows in which there are no double-glazed windows.
«In my office it's not above 18⁰C. I put on two jackets, first a thinner sleeveless vest, and then a thicker jacket, and I make hot tea all day long,» BFMTV quoted the Republican MP as saying.
The doors of the parliament rooms are now always closed with thick velvet curtains.
«A huge problem with this building is the currents of icy air. In the hall of columns, for example, when we open the doors, we lose several degrees at once,» NUPES deputy Arthur Delaporte said.
The deputies themselves call the French parliament nothing but a «thermal colander», and with the onset of cold weather, the meeting rooms are increasingly empty.
According to the TV channel, deputies from Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party refused to complain about the cold in parliament. Prime Minister Elisabeth Born, Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runachet and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire have been wearing turtlenecks and thick sweatshirts since September.
In other countries this is not observed. In small Austria or the Netherlands, gas was stored in sufficient quantities, and in more southern Spain and Italy, in principle, the climate is milder and the problem of heating is not so acute.