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Tunnel construction site on Fehmarn: The court wants to decide on the urgent application of the tunnel opponents in about three months
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Beautiful Sports / Angenendt / IMAGO
The action alliance against a fixed Fehmarnbelt link has initially stopped the dredging work for the controversial Baltic Sea tunnel between Germany and Denmark on the German side.
With their interim order, the judges of the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig followed an application by the opponents of the tunnel, as reported by the Schleswig-Holsteinische Zeitungsverlag (sh:z) and the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR).
"This is a surprising success that should not be underestimated," said the alliance's attorney, Wilhelm Mecklenburg, to the sh:z.
The action alliance had therefore requested on Thursday that the dredging of the tunnel trench off Fehmarn in the area of protected reefs should be prohibited - until the court decided in about three months on an urgent application by the alliance against the work.
On Friday, according to the report, the court also demanded exactly that from the state of Schleswig-Holstein: "It must be ensured that interventions in reef areas, for which a supplementary procedure was to be carried out according to the judgments of the Senate, have not yet begun".
In the course of this "supplementary procedure" in September, the Ministry of Transport allowed the destruction of the protected reefs on the tunnel route, but obliged the Danish client Femern AS to create new reefs elsewhere in the Baltic Sea off Fehmarn.
The action alliance filed a lawsuit and an urgent application against this decision by the state.
Transport Minister Buchholz reacts calmly
The Economics Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Bernd Buchholz, was nevertheless relaxed about the NDR. "Even if the action alliance should cause a delay in the construction process - the lawsuit will not bring about a substantial change in the project itself or the schedule," said the FDP politician to the broadcaster. It is clear to the state that there will be no further work in the disputed areas until the Senate makes an urgent decision. The country will then find a regulation on the compensation areas for the reefs. On Monday, the state wants to consult with the client about how to proceed.
The billion-dollar construction of the approximately 18.5-kilometer road and rail tunnel between Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the EU. Denmark and Germany had agreed on the project in a state treaty in 2014, the tunnel will be built and later operated by Denmark.
The project is controversial on the German side. Only in November last year did the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig pave the way for this by dismissing lawsuits from ferry companies and environmental protection associations. The Federal Republic is primarily responsible for expanding the transport connections of the new tunnel to the existing road and rail network. This also entails larger follow-up projects. So the construction of a new connection between the island of Fehmarn and the mainland is required.
Apr/AFP