Evaluation of renewable acceleration areas - designated under the EU Emergency Regulation and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) III - with regard to their impact on environmental and nature conservation standards and their effect on speeding up spatial planning and approval procedures

The growing challenges in energy and security policy have made accelerating the expansion of renewable energy a priority for the European Union. The EU Emergency Regulation and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) III have introduced new planning and permitting instruments designed to significantly speed up procedures. These include so-called renewable acceleration areas and infrastructure areas. These instruments aim to supplement the previously permit-centred approach with a more strategic, spatial planning-based management approach.  The intention is to significantly shorten planning and permitting procedures by designating suitable areas at an early stage, bundling projects and standardising and fast-tracking environmental assessments. However, shifting key assessments from the permitting level to the planning stage also has potential implications for environmental and nature conservation law. Against this background, evaluating the effectiveness of the instruments known as renewable acceleration zones and infrastructure zones is becoming increasingly important. We therefore aim to analyse:

• To what extent these zones contribute to speeding up procedures;
• what impact they have on environmental standards and nature conservation concerns;
• and whether they achieve the intended coordination and steering effects in spatial terms.