Cäcilia Gätsch, Theresa Rath, Felix Ekardt

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 20 (2022), Issue 2, Page 128 - 155

This article analyses legal issues related to the promotion of renewable energies and offers a legal concept for transforming coal regions into renewable energy regions. Beyond the fact that coal regions usually offer basic technical structures suitable for transformation, this aims at more acceptance for the accelerated energy turnaround – required after the climate verdict of the Federal Constitutional Court – because positive economic-social effects for coal regions are possible, probably even a higher added value than before. After a brief contextualisation of the topic, it is first examined whether and how corresponding areas can be secured (under planning law) for renewable energy plants. From an energy law perspective, it is then analysed how spatial control could be implemented by setting incentives for potential investors. Furthermore, the focus is on the economic participation of the affected regions and their inhabitants, a point that could bring about a further increase in acceptance beyond the promotion of company settlement and job creation. The findings are partly in line with a recent statement by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU), but go even further, especially with regard to the issue of securing land; in addition, a concrete concept for the utilisation of former opencast mining regions is offered.

Cäcilia Gätsch, Theresa Rath, Felix Ekardt

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 20 (2022), Issue 2, Page 206 - 219

This article deals with the opportunities and obstacles of power-to-x technology for the generation of electricity-based energy carriers from renewable energies (with special consideration of green hydrogen). After a scientific-economic grounding, it is analysed which impulses for this technology are currently emanating from EU energy law (in emissions trading, marginal cost compensation, renewable energies, taxonomy, etc.) and in the course of foreseeable legal changes. In the process, own regulatory proposals will also be addressed. The article concludes with an EU foreign trade perspective on global hydrogen prospects, opportunities and limits.

Felix Ekardt, Franziska Heß, Justus Wulff

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 19 (2021), Issue 3, Page 212 - 227

The climate decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court is probably the most far-reaching climate verdict of a supreme court worldwide. At its core, it calls for a fair intertemporal balance with regard to people's freedom, and it demands concrete specifications precisely by parliament. In line with our constitutional complaint, this involves fundamental further developments in the theory of the fundamental rights of freedom and the preconditions of freedom in interaction with the state goal of environmental protection. Human rights are accepted as intertemporal and transboundary. Furthermore, they are read in the light of the precautionary principle, and no longer limited in their validity to individual, singled-out affected persons. Furthermore, the 1.5 degrees limit of the Paris Agreement is recognized, at least under international law, as a binding requirement for climate policy. All this has far-reaching implications for German legislation. The reform of the Climate Protection Act does not do justice to the court's ruling. Likewise, necessary action at the EU level is also a desideratum. Furthermore, there are potentially far-reaching implications for other environmental problems which are often linked to climate change, such as biodiversity loss and disrupted nitrogen cycles. Civil lawsuits directly against large fossil fuel companies are now also a concrete option for the first time. Moreover, the verdict has broad implications in the interpretation of existing administrative law at the federal, regional and local levels. There are implications, for example, for planning horizons, for the protection of existing industrial plants, for state requirements planning and for municipal urban planning.

Jessica Stubenrauch, Felix Ekardt

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 19 (2021), Issue 4, Page 406 - 425

In various EU Member States such as Sweden, France and Denmark, national restrictions and bans on chemicals such as microplastics, BPA and PFAS have recently been introduced. The background in each case was incomplete regulation at EU level or regulation that is only expected in the future. Based on an overview of the scientific debate, this study presents these approaches and examines their transferability to Germany. In general, this is largely the case; at least provisional measures are possible based on the various EU secondary legislation acts and Articles 114, 193 and 34 TFEU. However, in order to avoid ecologically disadvantageous substance substitutions, possible alternative and equally dangerous (or even more dangerous) substances would have to be co-regulated. In the long term, EU-wide regulations remain more effective, also because otherwise spatial shifting effects are conceivable.

Jessica Stubenrauch, Beatrice Garske, Felix Ekardt

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 16 (2018), Issue 3, Page 325 - 335

The scarcity of Phosphorus (P) is a global concern which is not restricted to Western industrialised nations. To date, most countries in the world are highly dependent on importing scarce mineral P fertiliser for agriculture. This contribution examines the industrialised country Germany, the emerging country Costa Rica and the developing country Nicaragua with regard to their legislation in the field of environmental protection and agriculture, in particular with regard to soil protection and fertiliser law. Based on the structure of agriculture in the individual countries, deficits in control in the legislation, which is largely determined by regulatory law, are identified and compared. It becomes clear that soil protection in all three countries has not yet been sufficiently legally standardised and at the same time the control effect with regard to the efficient use of organic or recycled P fertilisers instead of (finite) mineral P fertilisers is inadequate. In particular, frugality, i.e. the strategy of lower (and not only more efficient) consumption of P fertilisers, has so far played no role in land-use governance.

Felix Ekardt

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 11 (2013), Issue 3, Page 197 - 205

The following article analyses some controversial instruments of energy policy with regard to their compatibility with the EU subsidy law. Implementing the latter, it develops high rate relevant requirements to the German energy law – however this does not primarily concern the renewable energy feed-in tariffs, where science, politics and the public mostly discuss questions of subsidy law.

Felix Ekardt, Ll.M.

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 9 (2011), Issue 5, Page 10

The focus of the paper is the extent to which regional legislatures may determine or even explicitly define planning requirements impacting upon climate protection, especially regional planning goals. This is of practical relevance as a framework for planning activities accompanying economic or regulatory climate policy instruments, such as for power plant, transport or urban planning. Given the right of the state legislatures to deviate from federal