Because of Tesla factory: Union parliamentary group deputy wants to change the right to sue associations

Tesla has not only made friends with the Gigafactory near Berlin. Environmental associations in particular are critical of the interference with nature for the construction. Associations from other federal states are also suing, and the CDU/CSU now wants to take action against this method.

The state of Brandenburg has still not issued a final building permit for Tesla's Gigafactory. The car manufacturer is currently pushing ahead with the construction of the factory via provisional individual permits. The pending approval is also due to complaints from local residents and associations who criticize the clearing of forests and see the protection of animal species at risk. A Bavarian nature conservation association has also filed a complaint - but this goes too far for politicians. CDU representative Carsten Linnemann tells the Handelsblatt "We must limit the right to sue to environmental associations that are directly affected." For Linnemann, who is deputy chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, this would mean the reverse: A Bavarian association would not be allowed to take legal action against a construction project in Brandenburg.

Up to now, the right of associations to take legal action has not provided for any restrictions; in the case of the lawsuit from Bavaria, the Federal Environment Agency had classified the association as entitled to take legal action. In February, construction was already halted following a lawsuit by the environmental association Grüne Liga Brandenburg and the Association for Landscape Conservation and Species Protection in Bavaria, but the Higher Administrative Court in Frankfurt (Oder) allowed the forest to be cleared.

At the beginning of the year, 90 hectares had already been cleared for the Gigafactory being built near Berlin, and at the beginning of December a further 83 hectares of forest were cleared. The Gigafactory near Berlin is due to start building 500,000 cars a year as early as next year. It is not uncommon for companies to build on the basis of provisional approvals, but Tesla is particularly quick to do so.