Basic principles of planning approval law

„Renovating, building, shaping the future - that is the order of the day“, according to the 2025 coalition agreement.

A special fund of 500 billion euros has been earmarked for investment in public infrastructure and climate protection.

Extensive infrastructure projects, e.g. in the transport and energy sectors, are to be financed.

Planning approval or planning authorisation procedures are required for the majority of projects.

The aim of this seminar is to provide an overview of the main features of planning approval law.

The legal framework, the course of the proceedings and the substantive legal requirements for the decision to be made are explained.

Basic judgements and current case law are discussed. 

The seminar is rounded off by explanations on the theory of errors and legal protection against planning approval decisions.

The seminar is designed as a basic and refresher seminar.

Seminar content

Legal bases at a glance

Planning approval as a special type of procedure
Relationship of the specialised laws to the VwVfG and LVwVfG
Planning permission, exemption decision, etc.
Effects of the planning approval
Concentration effect
Design effect
Prior effect under expropriation law
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Procedure of a planning approval procedure

Preparatory measures
Section formation, follow-up measures and parallel planning approval procedures
Application and planning documents
Implementation of public participation
Discussion meeting
Plan amendment during the procedure
Planning approval decision and its obligation to state reasons
Process acceleration through the use of project managers

Substantive legal planning requirements and balancing theory

Concentration effect of the planning approval decision
Planning justification, planning restrictions, optimisation requirements, planning discretion and other terms
Examination of alternatives, etc.
Dealing with specialised legal planning requirements, e.g. from immission, climate, nature and species protection
The balancing requirement and the balancing error doctrine

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Legal protection and judicial review

Environmental Appeals Act and other legal protection issues
Judicial review standards
Decisions under consideration