February 19, 2021
More than 2,000 infrastructure projects are affected by the Planning Guarantee Act every year. In plain language, this means that civil society must generally have the opportunity to have a say in over 2,000 projects. These objections must be heard and taken into account in dialog form at so-called discussion meetings. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is currently not possible to organize such physical events for citizens. Conversely, however, this does not mean that citizens can no longer exercise this right. On the contrary – solutions must be found. In defense of the authorities, it must of course be said that a switch to digital meetings was not to be expected, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. Many authorities were simply overwhelmed by the new situation. But now, in February 2021, different demands can be made. Now that businesses, schools and private individuals across the country have had to switch to digital conferencing and citizens are working from home, it is reasonable to expect the authorities to have set up conferencing systems such as Zoom, MS Teams, Big Blue Button or similar. The reality is different: The authorities’ digital portals are hidden, the files have cryptic names and objections can only be made in writing. Especially as only a fraction of the approx. 2000 projects have been made available at all. Real public participation looks different. After all, a written objection via a ready-made form is not the same as a physical discussion meeting. Together with the Deutscher Naturschutzring, Deutsche Umwelthilfe and Green Legal Impact, UfU demands in its statement that the Planning Protection Act, which is to be extended, should not only be extended but also further developed. Click here for the statement: Extension_Planungssicherstellungsgesetz_Stellungnahme_UfU_DNR_DUH_GLI (German only)