Acceleration Must Become a Top Priority

The Federal Government–State Pact adopted on 6 November 2023 was an important step towards accelerating planning and permitting procedures. So far, however, German businesses have not experienced any significant improvement, as many of the agreed measures have yet to be implemented. To date, only around one third of the measures have been realised, almost exclusively in the field of renewable energy. The Federal Chancellor and the Minister Presidents of the federal states must make the acceleration of administrative procedures a top political priority. Industry needs clear decisions from both the federal and state levels to achieve faster progress.

Fast Approvals Must Become the Norm

Promising approaches developed at state level are being undermined by inconsistent federal policies. The current patchwork of case-by-case regulations must be streamlined, and all procedures should be accelerated equally. Legislators have created a complex framework primarily aimed at speeding up renewable energy projects. What is needed instead are structural reforms that benefit the entire industrial sector. Planning and permitting procedures across all industries must be designed so that they can be completed efficiently, with legal certainty and within a reasonable timeframe.

Reducing the Flood of Expert Assessments

In Germany, final approval for projects often takes up to five years. An increasing number of details must be documented through expert reports, although these frequently provide little additional environmental benefit. As a result, environmental and nature conservation requirements are increasingly perceived as obstacles to important projects. Administrative authorities must be given greater decision-making powers, while the depth of judicial review should be reduced.

Significantly Reducing Complexity and Duration

In a new strategy paper, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) proposes concrete measures to accelerate procedures:

• Trust-based regulation to increase the responsibility of project developers
• Making procedural acceleration a top management and political priority
• Strengthening the decision-making capacity and expertise of permitting authorities
• Reducing the workload of administrative courts and limiting the scope of judicial review
• Consolidating and modernising EU environmental legislation and ensuring a strict one-to-one transposition into
  German law
• Rapid implementation of “low-hanging fruit” reforms in Germany (cut-off dates, partial approvals, spatial
  compatibility assessments, standards)
• Advancing digitalisation

These proposals aim to make procedures largely manageable without extensive reliance on external consultants or legal advisors. Accelerating administrative processes in Germany requires clear, practical and enforceable rules.