Angela Schwerdtfeger

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 21 (2023), Issue 4, Page 365 - 377

The amendments to the Renewable Energy Directive also aim to accelerate permitting procedures. To this end, environmental assessments are shifted from the project level to the planning level in renewables acceleration areas. The Emergency Regulation of the Council of the EU of December 2022 has already partially anticipated this idea. The amending Directive does not envisage any explicit changes with regard to access to justice; in particular, the requirements of the Aarhus Convention (AC) shall be observed. However, by deleting the environmental impact assessment at the project level, the amending Directive indirectly blocks the application of Art. 9 para. 2 AC. This means that access to justice must only be granted in accordance with Art. 9 para. 3 AC. The amending Directive thus results in a restriction of access to justice for the public against projects in renewables acceleration areas, which is, however, still in line with the Aarhus Convention.

Daniela Winkler, Marc Zeccola, Kornelius Löffler

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 21 (2023), Issue 1, Page 76 - 94

The energy crisis in Europe triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in spring 2022 has shown how vulnerable the German energy industry is, due to its dependence on fossil raw materials. For decades, German governments treated “Renewables” listlessly. In the fight against climate change and the energy crisis, the German government has introduced two legislative packages in 2022, which mainly concern the acceleration of the installation of wind power plants and are thereby intended to contribute to making Germany more independent, more resilient, greener and thus more fit for the future. This article is dedicated to the second legislative package, the so-called Act to increase and accelerate the installation of onshore wind power plants, in short: Wind-on-Land Act (“Wind-an-Land-Gesetz”). The aim of the article is to evaluate the legal regulations on the basis of the legislative efficiency (“legislative Effizienz”). To this purpose, the legal modifications will first be presented (II.). This followed by an introduction to the narratives of acceleration and acceptance, which were introduced by the legislator itself, as well as the concept of legislative efficiency (III.). Afterwards, the new law is measured against the narratives of acceleration (IV.) and acceptance (V.) to finally assess its legislative efficiency (VI.).

Silke Marie Christiansen, Peer Michaelis

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 21 (2023), Issue 2, Page 107 - 116

The acceleration of Germany's energy transition, spurred by various geopolitically significant events, has led to changes in the legal framework governing renewable energies, particularly onshore wind energy. These changes aim to streamline and accelerate the approval process for such technologies, which affects planning, subsidies, procedural, and ultimately permitting law. However, the expansion of renewable energy may result in conflicts particularly with species protection regulations. This article is divided into two main parts. The first part outlines the key legal changes at both German and European levels, specifically pertaining to the streamlined and accelerated development of onshore wind energy. These changes are intricate and especially complex due to the strong interconnections between the new regulations and their concurrent implementation at both European and German federal levels. Consequently, there is a significant need for clarification among the recipients of these new regulations. The authors conclude that it is crucial to collectively understand and address the conflicting goals in the present and future legal changes and work towards collaborative solutions.

Claas Friedrich Germelmann

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 17 (2019), Issue 2, Page 255 - 261

Financing the production of electricity from renewable energy sources has always been a politically controversial issue. Furthermore, it entails legal ramifications not only in internal law, but also on the EU level. As far as the German renewable energy surcharge is concerned, the European Commission has been requiring its conformity with EU state aid law since the German Renewables Act (EEG) 2012. However, in a recent judgment, the European Court of Justice has ruled that since the surcharge does not constitute a grant stemming from State resources within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU, state aid law does not apply. It therefore ends the Commission’s control over the German renewable energy support scheme, which seems questionable since the new Renewables Directive 2018/2001 cannot provide for an adequate alternative in order to preserve the market standards the support scheme has to follow in order to be efficient. The criticism applies even more in the case of future support mechanisms that may be designed in order to finance other tasks and instruments in the context of energy transition, for which secondary legislation does not exist at all.