The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona, presented his opinion in the dispute concerning the installation of fast charging stations on managed motorway service areas in Germany. In his view, he presents a series of arguments based on economic law, culminating in the statement that he does not believe that the thesis of Fastned and the European Commission “is fundamentally correct”. In other words, he believes that Autobahn GmbH is right. Autobahn GmbH des Bundes is a German limited company under the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport, founded on September 13, 2018. It has taken over the planning, construction, operation, maintenance, financing and highway asset management. in Germany in early 2021.

What is at stake? Simply put, Fastned does not want to accept that Autobahn GmbH awards contracts for the operation of fast charging stations at motorway rest areas without a tender. For its part, Autobahn GmbH relies on existing dealership agreements that established Tank & Rast’s current quasi-monopoly in the 1990s. The dispute has been before the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf since 2022. The plaintiffs: Tesla and Fastned. However, the recently published notice shows that Tesla withdrew from the domestic legal proceedings on July 5, 2024 and therefore did not appear in court. the hearing scheduled for July 9 like all other parties involved.

Will the judges follow the opinion of the advocate general?

The case is now being examined by the ECJ, with the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court needing a preliminary ruling from Luxembourg to deliver its own judgement. In the summer of 2023, the Düsseldorf court referred certain questions regarding the admissibility of changes to existing concession contracts to the European Court of Justice for clarification. Since then, officials have collected written statements from Fastned, Tesla, Autobahn GmbH, the German government and the European Commission and organized the aforementioned hearing (already without Tesla) a year later. With the now published conclusions of the ECJ’s Advocate General, Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona, the next legal step has now been taken. It remains to be seen whether the judges of the CJEU will share the opinion of the advocate general. However, this is often the case.

Luxembourg’s decision is expected this fall. The Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf, where the underlying proceedings are taking place, must then issue a judgment based on the ECJ ruling. This is not expected before spring 2025.

The background to this complex legal dispute is that more than 90 percent of motorway areas in Germany are operated by the concessionaire Tank & Rast. The contracts date back to the privatization of service stations in 1998. The dispute concerns a contract awarded by Autobahn GmbH to Tank & Rast two years ago for the installation of fast charging stations at motorway service stations. Tesla and Fastned sued because Autobahn GmbH had not launched a formal award procedure and, for its part, wanted to build charging parks on the highway.

Due to the lack of legal certainty, the development of fast charging stations at managed motorway areas in Germany has since stalled: in March 2024, it was announced that Autobahn GmbH and Tank & Rast had frozen for the time being their expansion. . The freeze aims to minimize the risk of a costly rollover – if charging stations installed since 2022 were declared illegal.

The background to this complex legal dispute is that more than 90 percent of motorway areas in Germany are operated by the concessionaire Tank & Rast. The contracts date back to the privatization of service stations in 1998. The dispute concerns a contract awarded by Autobahn GmbH to Tank & Rast two years ago for the installation of fast charging stations at motorway service stations. Tesla and Fastned took legal action because Autobahn GmbH had not initiated a formal award procedure and they, in turn, wanted to build charging parks on the highway.

Due to the lack of legal certainty, the development of fast charging stations at managed motorway areas in Germany has since stalled: in March 2024, it was announced that Autobahn GmbH and Tank & Rast had frozen for the time being their expansion. . The freeze aims to minimize the risk of a costly rollover – if charging stations installed since 2022 were declared illegal.

This has curious consequences. For example, Autobahn GmbH replaced old end-of-life chargers with new Alpitronic HYC300 hyperchargers. 300 kW columns are limited to a charging power of 50 kW in order to fall under the previously applicable regulations. When the green light is given for the first charging network for electric trucks, the federal government itself spares managed motorway service stations for the moment – ​​and makes do with truck charging parks in unmanaged car parks until until the issue is legally clarified. .

trans.info (in German), eur-lex.europa.eu