If everything happened as quickly as the construction of the first floating LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany would be a different country: a bill to accelerate planning at record speed, construction completed in just 194 days.
It was officially inaugurated on Wednesday.
But apart from this lighthouse project, modernization elsewhere is still going at a snail's pace: the Federal Ministry of Justice has had a bill for months to accelerate administrative court proceedings, and the Federal Ministry of Transport is working on a bill for the phase before that: for faster approval procedures.
Corinna Budras
Business correspondent in Berlin.
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Katja Gelinsky
Business correspondent in Berlin
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However, both draft laws are stuck in disputes with the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
In this phase of involuntary deceleration, the Federal Chancellery is now coming with its own initiative for a "pact for planning, approval and implementation acceleration", this time, however, together with the federal states, as the "Handelsblatt" reported.
It's about better coordination and "pragmatic solutions" for environmental impact assessments, for example.
Complicated and overloaded
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) also has all sorts of pragmatic ideas in mind.
The LNG terminal has shown that planning and approval does not have to take years, but can be done in months.
"We should also start this turbo with other projects, so that we can quickly and efficiently expand our road, rail and waterways," says the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Buschmann wants to oblige the courts to early hearing dates and limit legal protection.
He has gone the furthest with his draft for accelerating court proceedings and has therefore been biting granite for the Green coalition partner for a long time.
It is only now that there seems to be movement in the deadlocked dispute.
Curiously, his planned reform of the administrative court system is a comparatively small project - with above-average potential for excitement.
Because the decisive course is now being set in the intra-coalition negotiations.
That is why it suddenly takes on great importance in the political struggle.
The linchpin of the dispute is the question of which infrastructure projects should actually be accelerated.
The FDP-led ministries take the position: everyone.
Buschmann's acceleration plans therefore also include classic infrastructure such as fossil fuel power plants, waste incineration plants, airports and motorways.
The basic consideration is clear: Whether it's a wind turbine or a bypass road - the expansion and conversion of the German infrastructure is generally too complicated and overloaded with unclear legal requirements.
That has to change in general.
The Greens, on the other hand, insist on only turbocharging the expansion of renewable energies.
On the other hand, Deputy Lukas Benner, responsible for planning and process acceleration for the Greens, sums up his party's position as follows: The scope of the law in its current form is a "fossil rollback".
“Those who want to accelerate everything run the risk of ultimately not accelerating anything at all.
That is why a clear priority is needed for climate-friendly infrastructure.”
And Sabine Schlacke, professor of administrative law at the University of Greifswald, refers to the climate decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, which constitutionally protects climate protection.
It is questionable whether the transformation to climate neutrality, which is particularly necessary in the transport sector, will succeed if all infrastructure projects are accelerated.
"Every road construction attracts cars."