Petition against LNG: Ombudsman criticizes

Municipalities - Petition against LNG: Ombudsman criticizes

An initiative against the Rügen terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG ) is receiving support from the state's ombudsman in its criticism of the authorities. The LNG critics want to prevent the terminal with a citizens' petition and have been waiting for a statement on the legality of their initiative for more than three months. "It shouldn't take longer than three months to make a statement on the legality of a citizens' petition," Ombudsman Matthias Crone told the German Press Agency. "The new "Germany pace" cannot only apply to the LNG. The citizens need it too."

A few days ago, the citizens' forum Wir für Rügen criticized the delay. On September 5, the main initiator had already handed over more than 1,000 signatures in favor of holding a referendum. The aim of the decision is to ensure that Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH does not enter into any transactions aimed at the construction and operation of LNG infrastructure on the company premises. Contracts that have already been concluded, for example for the transfer of land, are to be terminated. The port is 90 percent owned by the town of Sassnitz.

Following its own assessment of the legality, the town asked the district's legal supervisory authority for an opinion. At the end of October, the district in turn consulted the Schwerin Ministry of the Interior, which, according to its own statement, also involved the Schwerin Ministry of Economics, which is responsible for ports.

A speedy review is not only important for direct citizen participation, said Crone. It also gives investors more planning security. Those who need more time should make it transparent why.

The district, whose administration is largely paralyzed following a hacker attack, recently stated that the assessment from Schwerin has been available since the beginning of the week. The district's statement should be sent to the city this week. They said that they wanted to hold a special meeting on the possible approval of a referendum. It could be tight for this to happen this year. The authorities did not provide any information on the content of the assessments already available.

Within three weeks, the Sassnitz town council had classified an initial planned citizens' petition against the terminal as unlawful. According to this, the town and district had come to the conclusion that the proposed question could not be answered with just "yes" or "no" as prescribed and that the municipality was not responsible in accordance with the question. The LNG critics then formulated a new, much more complex question with the help of a lawyer and launched a second petition for a referendum.

The first of two floating LNG terminals is to be stationed in Mukran as early as January. The approximately 50-kilometre-long connection pipeline through the Baltic Sea to the mainland has largely been laid. The approval procedure for the stationing and operation of the special ships is still pending.

Critics see the terminal as a threat to the environment and tourism and speak of unnecessary overcapacity. The federal government, on the other hand, considers it necessary in terms of energy supply security.