future projects
Chancellor: The time required for approval procedures will be halved
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new railway works. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Up until now, expansion projects in the areas of infrastructure and environmental protection have taken a long time in Germany. Will that change in the foreseeable future?
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that planning and approval procedures for expansion projects will be accelerated.
“In the future, we will plan and approve future projects in the fields of energy, infrastructure, construction and environmental law in half the time,” he said at the start of construction for the new railway works in Cottbus on Tuesday. The federal government will make all the necessary decisions before the end of this year.
“Overall, we have to get faster in Germany with our planning and approval processes so that we can achieve our climate goals and so that many good new jobs are created in our country,” said the Chancellor. The federal government has generally committed itself to faster planning processes for key future projects.
Deutsche Bahn is building its plant in Cottbus for the maintenance of its ICE 4 fleet. The first trains are to be serviced in the first hall in two years. According to DB, 500 new jobs and training positions will be created by 2024. With the completion of the second workshop in 2026, there will be a total of 1,200 new jobs. DB CEO Richard Lutz spoke of “construction at record speed”.