V a t t e n f a l l - Sweden´s other face

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A third Brown Coal Plan for Jänschwalde has yet to be approved by the Government. In the absence of a legally binding Plan for the Jänschwalde mine, which takes account of constitutional provisions concerning Sorb settlements and regulates resettlement, there is no legal basis for the compulsory resettlement of Horno.
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But even if all those steps are taken, the strictest measure at the disposal of the State of Brandenburg concerning the destruction of a village for mining is nothing more than a conditional permit for the mining company, and permission is conditional on the unavoidability of resettlement. When the third Brown Coal Plan is eventually approved by the Government, the question of whether the resettlement of Horno is unavoidable will have to be decided in court. Once again suit will be filed at the State Constitutional Court.
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The test of unavoidability can only be the public interest. In the case of strip-mining, the pillars of public interest are safe and cheap electricity as well as employment. Even the chairman of the Lausitzer Braunkohle AG (LAUBAG) admitted in the summer of 2000, that lights in the Lausitz will not go out and electricity not become more expensive, even if the Jänschwalde power station were to be shut down altogether. And so far as employment is concerned, the Jänschwalde power plant can continue in operation and Horno can be bypassed by the mine, without appreciable loss of jobs. This means, t hat the resettlement of Horno is not unavoidable.
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Vattenfall, therefore, would not breech any German law, if it takes the strategic decision not to destroy Horno.
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Yours sincerely, Michael Gromm
Spokesman, Horno Alliance
Horno, November 15th, 2001 -
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