The Federal Government has presented a draft of the Future Infrastructure Act. The bdla has issued a statement on this.
The aim of the Bill is to simplify planning and authorisation procedures and to speed up infrastructure and energy transition projects. The bdla welcomes the aim of making procedures more efficient and avoiding duplicate checks. However, in its current form, the draft requires significant technical clarification and amendment. Several provisions fall short of the intended objectives or, in some cases, run counter to them.
From the bdla’s perspective, there are particular concerns regarding
- the lack of plausibility of the proposed structural reorganisations,
- the dysfunctional alteration of tried-and-tested assessment procedures and planning tools,
- the restriction of public participation rights, resulting in reduced acceptance of infrastructure developments, and
- the weakening of the impact assessment provisions under nature conservation law.
Against this background, the bdla has drawn up a position paper on the draft bill and submitted it to the relevant members of the German Bundestag. The association will provide expert guidance throughout the remainder of the legislative process and engage in further discussions with political stakeholders. The first reading in the Bundestag is scheduled for the end of February 2026.
In 2024, the bdla published ‘Recommendations for landscape-sensitive planning acceleration in times of biodiversity and climate crisis’. With this policy statement, the association sets out how protracted planning and approval procedures can be effectively streamlined and simplified. After all, accelerating the planning process cannot be an end in itself.
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