Registrierungsvorbehalte im Verwaltungsrecht

Abstract

This article introduces the new administrative law instrument of the reservation of registration. It is shown that reservations of registration represent a form of opening control that differs from traditional opening controls such as notifications and authorisations. Constitutive features of reservations of registrations are (1.) the purely formal procedure aimed at obtaining information, (2.) the permissive effect of the registration decision in the absence of a legalisation effect (3.) and an accompanying transparency regime (4.).

Through their function as a means of exerting pressure, reservations of registration allow the public administration to obtain information quickly and centrally. They thus respond to the special need for information that arises when the state has to subsequently monitor private administration and when the state requires private knowledge for decision-making. In this sense, the importance of registration requirements is increasing, particularly as a result of EU law, as illustrated by sustainability law and digitalisation law.

The fact that reservations of registration are therefore not a minus but an aliud to reservations of approval is also noticeable in the legal issues associated with them. The absence of an official review of compliance with the law in the registration procedure calls for quality assurance mechanisms. Legal protection issues are concentrated on procedural protection of registrants and accompanying data protection in favor of third parties.

The institute of the reservation of registration does not replace the traditional institute of the control permit, but becomes more important if official approval procedures are withdrawn and the placing of substances and products on the market is instead subject to private approval.