KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's highest court ruled on Tuesday that accelerating the shutdown of nuclear plants following Japan's Fukushima disaster violated some property rights, paving the way for damage claims and sending shares higher.
E.ON, RWE and Vattenfall (VATN.UL) have sued the government over Germany's landmark decision in 2011, arguing the move amounted to expropriation.
The constitutional court in Karlsruhe said that complaints by utilities that a 2011 decision made after Japan's Fukushima disaster to shut down all nuclear power plants by 2022 was in parts not compatible with the country's laws.
The court said that the law did not include compensation for lost investments made by the utilities in "good faith" in 2010, when an extension to the life spans of nuclear power plants was agreed.
As a result, the government must now provide new legislation to regulate the nuclear exit by June 30, 2018, the court said.
E.ON shares were up by 4.6 percent and RWE's up 4 percent in a broadly flat market.
Vattenfall, a Swedish-state owned company, is also eligible to file a complaint, although in theory sovereign states cannot make such claims against each other, the court said.