Enlarge image
Working harbor for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel in Roedbyhavn: Tunnel elements are assembled under water
Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / imago images / Ritzau Scanpix
The city of Fehmarn has finally failed in its attempt to temporarily stop construction work on the planned Fehmarnbelt tunnel. According to its own statements, the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Administrative Court (OVG) dismissed a corresponding complaint by an incontestable decision in an urgent procedure on Thursday. The dispute was about the fire protection concept. The municipality, whose voluntary fire brigade also takes over the task for the tunnel and its construction site, considers the concept to be inadequate.
The administrative court in Schleswig had previously decided the same thing, whereupon the city of Fehmarn lodged a complaint with the OVG. According to the OVG, an emergency plan that has been checked and approved by the authorities has been in place since 2021. However, the municipality wanted to legally achieve that the construction work on the tunnel would be stopped until their ideas had been taken into account, including with regard to the financial resources.
The judges rejected this on the grounds that the task of defensive fire protection in their area had not only been transferred to the community through the emergency plan in question, but generally "due to previously made legal regulations".
The concept serves to protect "general interests".
However, it does not justify a "claim" by the community that would force the planning approval authorities to give the desired order to the tunnel developer.
At the same time, the state's highest administrative court emphasized that the question of the financial impact on the municipality had already been sufficiently clarified.
The state constitutional court had already decided in 2020 that the municipality was therefore entitled to compensation.
The country has already regulated this.
Constant criticism of environmentalists on the project
The Fehmarnbelt link is a multi-billion dollar construction project under the Baltic Sea.
The approximately 18.5-kilometer road and rail tunnel between Fehmarn and the neighboring Danish island of Lolland is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the European Union and is scheduled to go into operation in 2029.
Denmark and Germany had agreed by state treaty that the tunnel will be built and operated by Denmark.
The major project on the so-called Vogelfluglinie, which is intended to connect the northern European conurbations of Copenhagen/Malmö and Hamburg more closely, is controversial on the German side.
It was only in November 2020 that the Federal Administrative Court cleared the way by dismissing lawsuits from ferry companies and environmentalists.
Construction work on the German side began in November 2021.
Only about two weeks ago, in another ongoing procedure, the Federal Administrative Court asked for the dredging work for the tunnel to be temporarily slowed down and for the time being to leave out certain areas with underwater reefs.
The background is an urgent procedure initiated by an action alliance at short notice, which has not yet been decided.
Opponents of the project are gathered in the alliance.
The Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Transport had allowed the tunnel contractor to destroy the reefs on condition that new reefs be built elsewhere as compensation.
kig/afp
