The SPD parliamentary group wants to implement accelerated planning and approval procedures with a six-point plan in order to create more apartments and modernize the infrastructure. “Everything has to get faster, but some things have to get faster. That’s why we need a plan for the future in which we define priority projects and create space for experimentation,” says a draft resolution for the SPD parliamentary group’s meeting next Thursday Süddeutsche Zeitung present.
After missing the target of 400,000 new apartments per year, things should change, especially in the construction sector: A building application should be able to be submitted purely digitally; the state building regulations are to be standardized nationwide and building is to be promoted through uniform building modules: “Together with the federal states, we will ensure that 16 different processes (…) do not have to be run through in modular and serial construction and renovation.” In order to create new living space more quickly in inner cities, it should be easier to add stories to the roof without new approval procedures, as well as raising cell phone masts.
“Structural change and climate protection are prerequisites for a strong Germany”
Projects “that clearly have a CO₂-reducing effect and projects that solve pressing problems in the transport sector, such as bridge construction and other engineering structures, should be given priority over other projects so that the energy and transport transition succeed,” it is emphasized. The FDP and the Greens also see the acceleration of planning as a key task for 2023.
For priority projects, the SPD parliamentary group wants to set up “special task forces” and support the administration with external experts. In the case of important tunnel, bridge or lock modernization projects, renewed planning approval procedures with lengthy environmental impact assessments should be avoided within the framework of EU law.
“The turning point not only shapes the international order. Structural change and climate protection are prerequisites for a strong Germany and social life,” SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich told the SZ.
The most recent positive examples are the rapid approval and construction of liquid gas terminals and the Tesla factory in Brandenburg. In order to make faster progress with the expansion of renewable energies, there should be shorter deadlines for the area designation for wind turbines on land. Photovoltaic systems should become the legal standard when building houses in order to enable energy self-sufficiency with heat pumps and electric cars and to relieve the grid. “Such overall solutions should be given priority.”
SPD parliamentary group warns the federal states of a blockade
Environmental politician and parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch emphasizes: “Turning the crisis into an opportunity is our motto for the year 2023. For the renewables, that means we really have to go all-in this year.” The core of the SPD plan is to achieve faster planning processes at all levels, and the party leadership also speaks of a boost for a better infrastructure.
The SPD parliamentary group is threatening the federal states: “If no agreement can be reached within the framework of the federal-state pact on planning acceleration in the coming months, the federal government must initiate ambitious legal requirements within its legal responsibilities.” With a view to lawsuits from environmental organizations, for example, she emphasizes that one wants to severely limit this possibility: “In future, in the case of lawsuits against individual plans, a regional impact must be proven in accordance with EU law.” If the lawsuits are successful, the federal government should provide financial, personnel and structural support for mediation and arbitration procedures, and nature and species conservation concerns should be restricted. “In the future, legal disputes must no longer lead to procedures being blocked for years or having to be started from scratch.”