From pv magazine France
On April 22, the French government published a new decree in the Official Journal aimed at simplifying litigation procedures in environmental matters related to the permitting of large-scale renewable energy projects.
The decree seeks to shorten the overall processing time for appeals before administrative courts when they concern strategic environmental projects, particularly those contributing to the development of “decarbonized energy.” It explicitly covers photovoltaic projects, including agrivoltaic installations, with a capacity of 5 MW or more.
According to renewable energy lawyer Arnaud Gossement, appeals seeking the annulment of administrative decisions relating to these strategic projects must now be filed directly with the territorially competent administrative court of appeal. These courts will rule in first and last instance, with no further appeal possible, except for a cassation appeal before the Council of State.
The text also requires third parties lodging an appeal to notify project developers without delay, ensuring they are promptly informed of any legal challenge. It further accelerates proceedings by limiting the submission of new arguments to within two months of the filing of the initial defence, introducing a procedural “freeze” on arguments.
Finally, the decree sets a non-binding ten-month deadline for administrative courts of appeal to issue rulings. However, exceeding this timeframe does not automatically transfer the case to the Council of State and it may be extended, particularly in the event of a stay of proceedings pending regularization.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.