According to the DIHK analysis, the Federal Government's acceleration legislation in the summer of 2026 has made significant advances toward faster planning and approval processes, mainly thanks to the Future Infrastructure Act. However, numerous exceptions and restrictions continue to delay important initiatives.

The DIHK Acceleration Monitor clearly illustrates this: Of the 54 key measures, 12 have been fully implemented and 14 partially implemented. The implementation of another 13 measures has begun under the Building Code and the Environmental Impact Assessment Act. Thus, the majority of the initiatives under consideration have been initiated. Particularly notable progress, according to DIHK, has been made in areas such as licensing law for transport infrastructure and broadband expansion projects.

The numbers demonstrate a clear upward trend compared to the situation in the spring when only 3 measures were fully implemented and 10 partially implemented.

© DIHK / Christoph Soeder

DIHK Chief Executive Helena Melnikov: "The Federal Government has demonstrated in recent months that it is serious about accelerating planning and approval processes. This sends an important signal to businesses. Germany is picking up speed, but we are only halfway there. The transport ministers now have the opportunity to remove the remaining obstacles rather than introducing new ones."

The DIHK still sees a pressing need for improvements. Many facilitations remain confined to specific projects and special laws. Early commencement of construction, binding deadlines, and fixed-date regulations are still absent in water law and parts of urban land-use planning, causing delays even for politically prioritised projects.

Bridge construction serves as a prime example of this fundamental problem: While the Future Infrastructure Act has introduced important facilitation measures, the absence of exemptions from environmental impact assessments in some cases means that this procedural step alone can still take one to three years. This hampers Germany's ability to work at a faster pace in everyday operations. "Acceleration must work across all areas, not just for flagship projects. Otherwise, a large number of initiatives will remain bogged down in procedural bottlenecks," says Melnikov.

According to DIHK, many restrictions within the acceleration laws are among these limiting factors. "Four out of five motorway projects are excluded from overriding public interest. This leaves us stuck at the halfway mark. Fast-track processes should apply to all procedures, not just flagship initiatives." Additionally, the facilitation measures promised for industry and infrastructure under the Modernisation Agenda have yet to be fulfilled for environmental assessments. Adequate funding also needs to be guaranteed for the rapid implementation of construction-ready projects.

Melnikov: "The Federal Government should not rest on its laurels but expand facilitations to all approval areas and remove the imposed restrictions. Additionally, prioritising permitting fiction for all administrative procedures as part of the Autumn Relief Package offers another major opportunity for expediting processes, which the Government cannot afford to miss."

From DIHK’s standpoint, previous successes must not be undermined by additional burdens. "The current draft for a law to strengthen natural infrastructure would significantly delay many infrastructure projects, undoing much of the progress made so far," Melnikov concludes.

Background

On 6 November 2023, the Federal and state governments agreed on the so-called "Acceleration Pact". Many of the resolutions were integrated into the Modernisation Agenda under the new Federal Government. Numerous measures designed to achieve the promised "Germany’s pace" were adopted. These included 150 work orders for faster and simpler processes, ranging from many legislative changes in planning and permitting laws to administrative reforms (e.g., digitalisation, personnel). The DIHK Acceleration Monitor tracks the implementation status of the 54 most economically relevant legislative measures, assessing whether and to what extent each measure has been initiated and implemented within the key economic sectors.