Legal dispute over S8 and S34: approvals in jeopardy!

Legal dispute over S8 and S34: approvals in jeopardy!

The current legal problems surrounding the federal highways S1, S8 and S34 cast a shadowy light on the planning and approval of transport projects in Austria. The environmental organization VIRUS has pointed out significant legal deficiencies that could endanger the implementation of these construction projects. Spokesman Wolfgang Rehm calls for entries in the lists of the Federal Roads Act for the Marchfeld Expressway and the Traisental Expressway to be immediately discontinued. According to oekonews, a legal opinion carried out in 2005 regarding the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is to be regarded as contrary to EU law. Therefore it could be considered as not having been carried out.

The Federal Administrative Court confirmed that the legal approach to the entry in the Federal Highway Act could have far-reaching consequences. According to the court's decision, Asfinag may lack the legal basis to include projects in a modified construction program. This illustrates the questionable approval situation for roads S8 and S34, which are now burdened by both pending extraordinary legal remedies and a negative finding by the Federal Administrative Court.

Problems with the S34 and S8

A negative decision was already made for the S8 Marchfeld expressway in December 2024, which makes construction impossible. According to lobau.org, it should be noted that all necessary permits cannot currently be granted because the processes according to the ECJ ruling C-24/19 are invalid as far as significant structural defects are concerned. Rehm emphasizes that approvals based on such plans suffer from a “root defect” and should therefore be repealed.

The S34 in particular is in focus because there is a legally binding but fundamentally illegal permit. This concerns the separate clasp Wörth, which is essential for the proper implementation of the project. Without this clasp, it is impossible to start traffic on the S34, as changes to the approval process are absolutely necessary.

The role of strategic environmental assessment

The strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a central element in assessing the environmental impacts of planned projects. The SEA is particularly relevant for the transport sector, as the comparisons show wikipedia. It serves to shed light on environmental aspects at an early stage before construction projects are approved. The SEA was established by EU directives, in particular EC Directive 2001/42/EC, and must therefore be carried out correctly in all relevant projects. Faulty SUPs, such as the S1, S8 and S34, must not be used. This has the potential to impact many other new road construction projects that are still in the approval phase and plan to begin in the near future.

The situation not only entails legal uncertainty for the authorities and project sponsors, but also has far-reaching consequences for the environment and the affected communities in Austria. It remains to be seen how the political level will react to this problem and whether the weak points in planning and implementation can be remedied.