Paying out lignite power plant operators might have been exaggerated
Looking at the recent constitutional court ruling on Germany鈥檚 nuclear exit, the decision by federal economy minister Sigmar Gabriel to pay lignite power plant operators for mothballing their facilities might have been exaggerated, says Klaus T枚pfer, founding director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), in an interview with S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. According to T枚pfer, the court made clear that governmental authorisations, such as power production from nuclear or fossil sources, can be revoked without infringing property rights. 鈥淚n my view [Gabriel鈥檚 decision] goes beyond what the Federal Constitutional Court deemed necessary. With this decision [鈥 somebody is compensated so that he stops damaging,鈥� says T枚pfer.
Read the interview (behind paywall) in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 article Germany's constitutional court backs speedy nuclear exit.