Federal Constitutional Court: Ban on wind power in the forest unconstitutional

Thuringia has been struggling for part of the energy transition for years. Many forest owners would like to generate electricity from wind. However, the country banned the construction of wind turbines in the forest. Now the Federal Constitutional Court decided in the dispute.

In Thuringia, the question of whether or not wind turbines can be erected in forests has been a matter of debate at state political level for years. There were some serious protests among the population against such plans. Construction was then banned two years ago.

The ban was regulated in the state forest law. Only a few days ago, Thuringia’s Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund from the Greens spoke out in favor of reversing the change in the law.

Now the Federal Constitutional Court has decided the disputed issue – completely independent of the political discussions – as a supreme court: The blanket ban on building wind turbines in the forests of Thuringia is unconstitutional and therefore void.

Forest owners assert themselves

Several forest owners had sued against the ban. They invoked their property rights and the associated right to be able to use the forest economically. The Federal Constitutional Court upheld the complaints.

However, the decisive question was not at all whether the ban severely restricted the plaintiffs’ rights of ownership and use or not. The complaints were upheld because, according to the judges of the first Senate, the state of Thuringia lacks the legislative competence for such a ban.

In other words, the state legislature in Thuringia does not have the right to enshrine such a blanket ban in the state forest law. Such a ban is to be assigned to land law. According to the constitutional court, however, the federal government is responsible for land rights under the Basic Law. Something else can only apply if a federal state like Thuringia wants to protect nature or certain landscapes with concrete regulations.

Bans in other federal states are also off the table

With its blanket building ban, Thuringia goes beyond that. According to a report by the scientific service of the Bundestag, it is also fundamentally forbidden in other federal states to build wind turbines in forest areas. After the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, the legal regulations will have to be checked there and corrected if necessary.

In February next year, new regulations on the subject of wind energy will come into force nationwide. The traffic light coalition wants to push the expansion of wind turbines significantly. The federal states should provide significantly more space for this than before.