The political pulse for the future Andalusian irrigation law has moved today to Brussels. The Andalusian Minister for the Environment, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, traveled to the community capital today to meet with the European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius in order to explain “the truth” about the bill presented in the Andalusian Parliament. This proposition “in no way harms” the Doñana national park, the Andalusian representative assured in statements to the press at the end of the meeting, which occurs after the European Commission warned Spain that these plans go against the Court’s ruling of Justice of the EU that obliges to protect the wetland and threatens with the imposition of severe fines.
“We have come to this meeting with the truth as the only instrument and as the only weapon with which to defend ourselves against this continuous attack and the barrage of disqualifications and lies from the Government of Spain”, said Fernández-Pacheco. “This initiative comes to solve problems and safeguard the area of ​​Doñana, its aquifer and the rich biodiversity that it treasures,” insisted the representative of the Board. “The commissioner has told us that he is going to study and analyze the proposals that we have made to him today at the meeting” and “he has listened to us, something the government has not done since November.” Sánchez-Pacheco has assured that they are open to making “changes” in the proposals of the bill through the parliamentary process but has not clarified whether he has committed to any specific modification before the European head of the Environment.
The European Commission has not provided its summary of the meeting for the moment, but according to the Andalusian minister, it has dealt above all with Sinkevicius’s concern about compliance with the 2021 CJEU ruling, whose application corresponds “80 percent” to the central government. The Board, he has said he, instead carries out his part. According to Fernández-Pacheco, Brussels is also concerned about the “unexpected media uproar” that exists around this issue. “It escapes no one that if another autonomous community, such as Catalonia, presented a bill -whose consideration in parliament is the only step taken- we would not be witnessing the whirlwind of statements and insults that the Government of Spain is uttering”.
From Madrid, the Spanish Government, which has sent not only the Minister for the Environment of the Permanent Representation to the EU to the meeting but, due to the “seriousness of the matter”, also a State lawyer, has made it clear that this It was not “a courtesy meeting” but a meeting within the framework of the discussions on the application of the Doñana sentence and the Andalusian law proposal. “The EC understands and is fully aware of the situation, and has made it clear from the beginning,” said Vice President Teresa Ribera, head of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, who recalled that the file originated in Spain that led to the ruling it was the hydrological plan of the Government of Mariano Rajoy, which led to the breach of the habitats directive.
“In the opinion of the Commission, this is not a debatable matter or subject to interpretations” and “it considers that the bill goes in a direction diametrically opposed to that necessary for the protection of Doñana and Spain’s commitments”, emphasized Ribera, who last week he met in Stockholm with Commissioner Sinkevicius. In that meeting “he was emphatic” in his opinion on the matter, “and insisted that everything that was transferred to me would be transferred to all those who requested meetings.” “Stop putting Spain’s credibility at risk” and “avoid the risk of Spain being condemned” and punished by paying sanctions, the vice president has asked Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, president of the Andalusian Government, and Alberto Nuñez Feijóo , leader of the PP. “The Government demands that the Government and the Andalusian Parliament withdraw this bill.