The European Parliament’s draft report on speeding up permit-granting procedures, drawn up by Niels Fuglsang (S&D, Danish), has been published. The text, which concerns infrastructure that, like electricity transmission and distribution networks, is not currently covered by any European legislation, is part of the ‘networks’ package presented by the European Commission on 10 December 2025 (see EUROPE 13767/4). The other report in the legislative package, on the TEN-E Regulation governing trans-European energy infrastructure, led by Tsvetelina Penkova (S&D, Bulgarian), has also been published (see EUROPE 13875/14).
Niels Fuglsang supports the amendments made by the European Commission concerning the speeding-up of permit-granting procedures for small infrastructure projects and the modernisation of existing infrastructure “where the environmental impact is minimal or even non-existent”.
A weakening of environmental and public health assessments. Where measures to mitigate environmental consequences are included in infrastructure projects, a derogation from the environmental assessments normally required will be possible. This is the case, for example, for the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). This means that project developers will not need to carry out an assessment of the ecological status or the good chemical status of water bodies (groundwater and surface water) under the principle of overriding public interest.
In addition, measures for tacit approval of renewable energy infrastructure projects exist where the competent public authority does not issue a decision within the prescribed deadlines, but only in certain ‘acceleration’ areas and for existing infrastructure. The report proposes extending these tacit approval measures to all projects and to all stages of decision-making, except as regards the environment. Authorities will have to publicly notify that a project has been approved.
A catch-all compromise. The rapporteur introduces the issue of financing network expansion, which he considers insufficient. He therefore calls on Member States to facilitate access to sources of financing at European Union level, but also through public-private partnerships. He also wants Member States to apply a European preference for electricity networks in public procurement.
The draft report also gives greater prominence to local communities through participation in renewable energy infrastructure projects, which regularly encounter reluctance or even outright public opposition. The report thus seeks to “set in place equitable benefit-sharing measures”, including economic ones, for projects with a capacity exceeding 3 MW, with a view to gaining citizens’ support.
Lastly, the report proposes that permit-granting procedures should be digital by default in order to make them more efficient. The issue of staff shortages within national authorities responsible for permit-granting is also addressed, and the rapporteur calls for “[priority] Union funding as well as other measures that ensures the applicable deadlines are kept, and the process is cost-efficient”.
The vote on permit-granting has been brought forward to 24 June, while the vote on the TEN-E Regulation is scheduled for September. Originally, the two texts were to be voted on the same day. The draft report also provides for the transposition into national law to be shortened to one year instead of two as soon as the text is adopted.
Read the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/m2x (Original version in French by Nadège Delépine)