Düsseldorf court rules charging infrastructure at German motorway service areas must be tendered

After nearly four years of legal proceedings, the final decision was delivered within minutes. In a brief hearing lasting around five minutes, Presiding Judge Heinemann announced a ruling that is likely to have lasting implications for the procurement of charging infrastructure at German motorway service areas.

The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled clearly in favour of Fastned’s application. According to the decision, Autobahn GmbH, the state-owned company responsible for Germany’s federal motorway network, must conduct a formal tendering procedure for the construction of charging infrastructure at motorway service areas under its management.

Until now, such a tendering process had not been carried out. The court therefore concluded that the previous procurement approach for installing charging stations at motorway service areas was not compliant with the applicable rules.

Until now, Tank & Rast and Ostdeutsche Autobahntankstellen had relied on existing fuel station concession agreements with Autobahn GmbH, the state-owned company responsible for Germany’s federal motorway network. These concessions, originally granted for operating petrol stations, were later extended without a tendering process to include the installation of electric vehicle charging points. As a result, the concession holders were able to determine which charging operators were permitted to operate at a service area and which were not.

In its ruling of 6 March, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf declared this practice unlawful. In the future, Autobahn GmbH must award charging infrastructure at the motorway service areas it manages through a transparent and competitive tendering procedure. This approach already applies to unmanaged motorway locations and to regional fast-charging sites developed under the federal Deutschlandnetz programme.

The detailed reasoning behind the court’s decision has not yet been fully clarified. However, the ruling establishes that the development of charging infrastructure at motorway service areas must follow public procurement rules rather than being integrated into existing fuel station concession agreements.

The legal dispute centred on whether the extension of existing concessions to include charging infrastructure complied with procurement law. Fastned had challenged the practice, arguing that the installation and operation of fast-charging stations constituted a separate economic activity that should be subject to an open and competitive tendering process.

The proceedings had been ongoing for several years before the court issued its decision. The ruling is expected to affect how future charging infrastructure projects at motorway service areas are awarded in Germany.

• Around 90 per cent of motorway service areas in Germany are operated by Autobahn Tank & Rast and Ostdeutsche Autobahntankstellen. This arrangement is based on roughly 360 concession agreements with the German state. Under these contracts, the companies were authorised to determine which businesses could operate fuel stations and which catering providers were permitted to sell food and beverages at the service areas. These concessions were later extended without a competitive tendering process to include the construction and operation of electric vehicle charging stations. As a result, Autobahn Tank & Rast and Ostdeutsche Autobahntankstellen were also able to decide which charging operators could deploy infrastructure at a service area and which companies were excluded.
• Fastned Deutschland GmbH, a subsidiary of the Dutch fast-charging operator Fastned, took legal action in German courts against the awarding of charging stations without an EU-wide tender—initially alongside Tesla Deutschland, though Tesla later withdrew from the proceedings. Fastned consistently argued that the expansion of charging infrastructure at German motorway service areas must be open to competition through EU-wide tendering processes to ensure the best offer prevails.
• The legal proceedings in Germany have been pending before the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf since 2022. In July 2023, the court referred key aspects of the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for clarification regarding European Union rules governing the award of concession contracts. The referral focused on whether the extension of existing service area concessions to include charging infrastructure could be permitted without a new tendering process. Under EU procurement rules, modifications to an existing concession may be allowed in certain circumstances, particularly if the change becomes necessary due to unforeseeable developments.
• In April 2025, the European Court of Justice delivered its judgment. While the decision did not declare the procurement practice fundamentally unlawful and therefore strengthened the position of Autobahn GmbH to some extent, it also provided guidance for the judges at the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. In particular, the ECJ outlined three conditions that must be fulfilled for a subsequent modification of an existing concession to be considered lawful under EU procurement rules. Following the ECJ’s decision, it was up to the Düsseldorf court to assess whether these conditions had been met in the specific case concerning the deployment of charging infrastructure at motorway service areas.

Key aspects of Düsseldorf court ruling remain unclear

Presiding Judge Heinemann did not read out the detailed reasoning during the announcement of the ruling. However, it is evident that the Higher Regional Court concluded that the conditions set out by the ECJ were not met. In its ruling from the previous year, the ECJ had specified three requirements for a subsequent modification of a concession to be lawful: the new circumstances must have been unforeseeable for a ‘public contracting authority exercising due care,’ they must not alter the overall character of the concession in question, and they must not increase the value of the contract ‘by more than 50% of the value of the original concession.’

Without the written reasoning, it remains unclear which specific factor ultimately proved decisive in the ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. What is clear, however, is the outcome: the construction of charging stations at motorway service areas—key locations for long-distance travel—must now be awarded through a fair and competitive tendering process rather than being directly assigned under existing concession arrangements.

Fastned welcomed the decision and pointed to the broader European context. “With the upcoming tender, Germany will catch up with other EU countries, where the expansion of fast-charging infrastructure at motorways has been organised through competitive tendering for years,” the company stated.

“Today is a great day—not just for Fastned, but for everyone who is or will be driving electrically. The Higher Regional Court’s decision paves the way for genuine competition at managed motorway service areas and confirms that it is worth constructively challenging the status quo,” said Linda Boll, Country Director of Fastned Deutschland. “Now, Autobahn GmbH must turn principles into practice. At Fastned, we are ready to invest to ensure Germany catches up with the European leaders in fast charging.”

Fastned’s CEO, Michiel Langezaal, also commented in the company’s statement: “Today’s decision by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf is a victory for fair competition and Europe’s transition to electromobility. It confirms that fast charging is an independent, forward-looking industry that deserves its own transparent tendering processes—rather than automatic extensions of existing fuel station concessions. This creates the conditions for greater choice at German motorway service areas and thus more freedom for electric vehicle drivers across Europe. The future of European transport is electric, and at Fastned, we will continue to drive this transformation and pursue our mission of providing electric vehicle drivers with a first-class charging experience across borders.”

“Tank & Rast has taken note of the ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf regarding the agreement on the provision of rapid charging infrastructure at managed service areas on federal motorways operated by Autobahn GmbH. We will now first review the written grounds for the judgement,” a spokesperson for Tank & Rast told electrive in response to an enquiry.

At the time of publication, Autobahn GmbH des Bundes had not yet issued a statement. We will update this article as soon as one is released.

Key question remains timeline for tender process

But what does the ruling mean for the construction of new charging stations at managed service areas along the motorway? Since the proceedings began, further expansion has effectively ground to a halt, as there was a risk that charging stations built after 2022 could be declared illegal because they were constructed during an ongoing procurement review process based on an unlawful awarding practice. Given the investments required for such fast-charging stations, no charging provider was willing to take the financial risk of potentially having to dismantle their charging stations. In March 2024, it was revealed that Autobahn GmbH and Tank & Rast had temporarily frozen further expansion.

However, expansion will not resume immediately. The tendering processes for the Deutschlandnetz programme, for example, have demonstrated how long it can take to establish a legally secure tendering procedure and carry it out—and even after the contract is awarded, it merely marks the starting point for charging providers to begin their planning and approval processes for constructing the charging stations.

An observer at the ruling announcement commented rather casually: “So, we won’t see any new charging stations at service areas for the next four years.”

Whether it will truly take that long or proceed more quickly remains to be seen in the coming months. Fastned Deutschland’s Country Director, Boll, is optimistic: “Autobahn GmbH should now seize the opportunity of an open tender and structure it in a way that allows providers to clearly differentiate themselves through quality and customer focus. This has been standard practice in many EU countries for years.”

Update 9 March 2026

In the meantime, the OLG Düsseldorf has published a press release on the proceedings, which also outlines a brief justification of the decision. According to the statement, the public procurement senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court concluded that the supplementary agreements concluded between Autobahn GmbH and Tank & Rast ‘constitute a material change within the meaning of Section 132 GWB.’

“The right to operate filling stations for petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles does not also include the right to operate fast-charging stations for battery-electric vehicles. Nor was it necessary to extend the original concessions to include the operation of fast-charging infrastructure. The filling stations and service areas could continue to operate without the operators also offering fast-charging infrastructure,” the court stated. “If Autobahn GmbH wishes to continue commissioning the installation of fast-charging infrastructure on federal motorways, it must now conduct a procurement procedure.”

And: “The decision is legally binding.”

We also received the requested statement from Autobahn GmbH. “Autobahn GmbH takes note of the decision by the OLG Düsseldorf and welcomes the fact that, after proceedings lasting several years, clarity has now been established for future projects as well,” a spokesperson said.

“Autobahn GmbH and the Federal Ministry of Transport will now carefully review the ruling and, on this basis, develop the framework conditions for a public tender for the managed service areas, for which all interested market participants will be able to apply. Such a tender is to be launched as quickly as possible.”

Source: Announcement hearing at the OLG Düsseldorf, information via email; olg-duesseldorf.nrw.de (update; in German)