Stand und Zukunft der Digitalisierung von Planungsverfahren in Deutschland

The digitization of planning procedures in Germany has been driven forward in recent years by numerous legislative amendments, especially on a federal level. As a result, individual components of planning procedures, such as public participation, have been shifted to a digital environment. At the same time, digitization has enabled new procedural steps, such as the algorithmically assisted determination of preference areas pursuant to Sec. 12c para. 2a of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG), to be integrated into the planning process. A draft Infrastructure Future Law (Infrastruktur-Zukunftsgesetz) indicates that the federal legislator is in the process of continuing the shift of planning procedures to a digital environment and completing it with fully digitized planning procedures. These serve no self-purpose, but should ultimately be perceived as a further attempt to accelerate planning. However, EU and international law requirements (currently) prevent digital-only planning procedures.