Trans-European networks and the effectiveness of national permitting procedures: a practitioner’s view

Abstract:

The law on trans-European networks (TEN) is a good example for the complex balancing between substantive EU law and national procedural autonomy. On the one hand, the EU legal provisions promote the implementation of infrastructure projects in the areas of transport, energy and telecommunications. On the other hand, the principle of national procedural autonomy leaves it to the Member States how they organise their permitting procedures dealing with those projects. The experience in the past has shown that many TEN-projects get stuck in the complex national permitting proceedings. This is the reason why the Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 on trans-European energy infrastructure includes several provisions dealing with permitting procedures. The Regulation is an interesting example of how EU law evolves from mainly substantive provisions into the regulation of national administrative procedures. It remains to be seen if the European Commission and the Member States will take this approach further.