Several key legislative initiatives by the Federal Government are currently being pursued in parallel, with significant implications for the planning sector.
The reform of urban planning legislation (BauGB-E) is currently undergoing inter-ministerial consultation. Fortunately, the draft bill addresses key concerns raised by the bdla. These include, in particular, the strengthening of climate adaptation as a standalone objective. Similarly, integrated open-space development concepts are taken into account as a factor in the balancing of interests; links to the EU Restoration Regulation are established for the first time; the impact assessment framework is further developed; and local authorities’ scope for action on climate adaptation is strengthened.
The Federal Ministry of Transport’s Infrastructure Future Act (InfZuG) is at a much more advanced stage; it has already been debated at first reading in the German Bundestag. The bdla has contributed its position to the process and communicated it to the relevant policy-makers. In a discussion with Member of the Bundestag Helmut Kleebank (SPD), Kerstin Berg, Mario Kahl and Lisa Lau were able to address the bdla’s key points of criticism. The focus was, in particular, on the proposed interventions in tried-and-tested assessment procedures and planning instruments.
The bdla also used the meeting with Kleebank to discuss at an early stage the ‘counterbalance’ to the InfZuG planned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment: the Act on Strengthening Natural Infrastructure and Further Developing the Nature Conservation Impact Assessment Regulations. The bdla has already received an internal draft. The proposal was announced in the modernisation agenda at the end of 2025 as the ‘Act on Natural Area Requirements’ and aims to systematically strengthen natural infrastructure in contrast to so-called grey infrastructure. Should the draft be pursued in this form, it points to a fundamental systemic change, particularly with regard to the technical assessment of interventions in nature and the landscape.
The bdla continues to monitor all proceedings closely and is in constant dialogue with politicians and associations.
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