Die Alternativenprüfung im Umweltrecht

Alternative assessment is a central procedural step in environmental law, designed to compare different means of achieving regulatory objectives while integrating information on environmental impacts into decision-making. Despite its potential to enhance transparency and legal quality, it often conflicts with demands for faster procedures.
This study provides a comprehensive and systematic account of alternative assessment within European and German environmental law. It covers diverse legal areas, including environmental and strategic impact assessments, habitat protection, nature conservation, chemical and plant protection law, water law, and pollution control. Based on the constitutional and EU-law framework, the author classifies alternative assessments according to actors, functions, and legal character.
The analysis explores the procedural and substantive implications of these classifications, particularly regarding implementation, error consequences, and legal remedies. The work further engages with issues of legal development, discussing potential reforms such as the introduction or abolition of assessment duties, the reconciliation of environmental protection and procedural acceleration, and future research needs. It thereby offers a rigorous and forward-looking contribution to the theory and practice of environmental procedure law.

Born 1998; studied law at the University of Augsburg; first state examination in law in 2021; research assistant at the Chair of Public Law and European Law, Environmental Law and Planning Law at the University of Augsburg; legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Munich.

Erster Teil: Grundlagen
§ 1 Einführung
§ 2 Begriffsbestimmungen: Die Alternativenprüfung im unionsrechtlich durchdrungenen primären Umweltrecht
Zweiter Teil: Darstellung der Alternativenprüfungen
§ 3 Darstellung der ausgewählten Alternativenprüfungen
Dritter Teil: Systematisierung der Alternativenprüfungen
§ 4 Unions- und verfassungsrechtlicher Rechtsrahmen der Alternativenprüfung orientiert an den Akteuren
§ 5 Charakter der Alternativenprüfung
§ 6 Funktion der Alternativenprüfung
§ 7 Erforderlichkeit der Alternativenprüfung
Vierter Teil: Gestaltung der Alternativenprüfung
§ 8 Verfahrensdauer
§ 9 Gestaltungspotentiale
Fünfter Teil: Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse
§ 10 Thesen