Amendments to the Wind Energy-to-Sea Act: Digitisation of planning and approval procedures

On 29 June, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive on the planning safeguards law, which came into force in May 2020, introduced the tool of online consultation, initially limited to the duration of the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In connection with the amendments to the WindSeeG adopted by the Federal Government today, the formal consultation of the authorities to be involved has been replaced by the publication of the relevant planning documents on the Internet (§ 6 para. 10, § 12 para. 2a, para. 4 sentences 2 and 3, § 47 para. 6 WindSeeG). A further step towards bringing administrative procedures into the digital age. And unlike the Planning Security Act, the tool of this online consultation is no longer tied to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.