Yesterday, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) in Karlsruhe declared the state law on the participation of citizens and municipalities in wind parks in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern permissible. GÖRG Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB, together with Prof. Durner, advised the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) both on the enactment of the law and represented it before the BVerfG on the merits of the case.
In order to increase public acceptance for the construction and expansion of onshore wind plants, the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern passed a law on 18 May 2016 that makes the participation of citizens and municipalities in wind parks mandatory. A wind energy company operating in MV, which erects and operates wind parks itself, had filed a lawsuit against this.
The BVerfG rejected the company's constitutional complaint and declared the state law to be lawful. On Thursday, the court announced that wind park operators can, in principle, be obliged to give affected citizens and communities a financial share of the revenue. The encroachment on the professional freedom of the operators is predominantly justified, as the thereby pursued public interest objectives of climate protection, the protection of fundamental rights against impairments due to climate change and the security of energy supply are sufficiently substantial. With its comprehensive explanations of the importance of renewable energies for the common good of the Federal Republic of Germany, the court clearly goes beyond the specific subject matter of the proceedings.
The experienced GÖRG partners and specialist lawyers for administrative law Dr. Christoph Riese and Dr. Marc Schüffner successfully advised and represented the State of MV.
Advisors
GÖRG Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB
Dr. Christoph Riese (Partner, Public Commercial Law, Energy Law, Berlin)
Dr. Marc Schüffner (Partner, Public Commercial Law, Berlin)
University of Bonn
Prof. Dr. Dr. Wolfgang Durner
