Resistance to the March 9 cuts has especially strong in the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), as well as in the CDU itself.

Members of parliament in the ruling coalition had complained that the March 9 date for the incentive cuts would damage confidence among suppliers and dealers in the photovoltaic industry, which has more than 100,000 jobs in Germany.

...The CSU is also opposed to the plans that would cut incentives by 30 percent for large solar power plants of more than 1,000 kilowatts. The CSU will only agree to cuts of 15 percent, sources said.

Some related news (links in German):

• In the first two months of 2012, power generation in Germany from wind and solar rose 42% year-on-year (to 13.2&nsbp;TWh). The total is more than what the eight nuclear reactors shut down last year after Fukushima would be able to produce [that would be 8.422&nsbp;GW net power producing 12.1&nsbp;TWh; albeit that's unreal as at least two of the eight were already down pre-Fukushima with little hope of a re-start any time soon].
• In prices at electricity exchanges, electricity in France was more expensive than in Germany every month from October 2011. Last month it was 8.25&nsbp;c/kWh vs. 5.49&nsbp;c/kWh.