91tv

German chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) plans to streamline planning and approval procedures for faster construction of wind turbines, rail projects and even houses, newspaper Handelsblatt聽. The 鈥減act for accelerated planning, approval and implementation鈥� between the national government and federal states aims to 鈥渟peed up 鈥� at least halve 鈥� the times for administrative, planning and approval processes,鈥� said Scholz. This was one of the聽key agreements聽from the coalition government 鈥� formed by the Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democrats (FDP) 鈥� as they took office. So far, emergency聽approvals聽for floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on the North and Baltic Seas have been facilitated, reports Handelsblatt. However, the government cabinet has also introduced several legislative proposals to speed up permit and planning procedures.

Slow planning听补苍诲听approval procedures听补苍诲听bureaucratic hurdles聽hamper the transition to a low-emission economy. Planning and approval procedures are not only becoming increasingly complicated and burdensome, but also take an average of six months longer than required by law, industry association BDI聽found. Equally, long approval procedures and insufficient land designation mean the expansion of wind power capacity across Germany is too slow to meet climate targets, a聽聽by the聽聽found. Additionally, bureaucratic hurdles have聽slowed down聽electricity grid expansion. The new agreement aims to optimise and digitalise the processes end-to-end.