The timetable of important legislative initiatives planned in the near future Ministry of Environment and EnergyBoth in terms of energy and environmental and spatial sectors, the responsible Minister, Mr. Stavros Papastavrou, gave an interview Monday in the Central Newsletter on Alpha Television.
Starting from the International Hydrocarbon Research Competition in South Crete 1 and 2 areas, Mr Papastavrou stressed that the ministry’s intention is to be completed by the end of the year, so that seismic surveys be launched by the contractor in 2026. As he said, “the practical interest shown by the American energy giants Chevron and Exxonmobil in the Greek underwater space is an important indication that there may be something commercially exploited in the Greek seas, for the benefit of the Greeks and the Greeks.” Responding to a question about the possibility of reactions from Turkey, Mr Papastavrou pointed out that the interest of US multinationals is potentially strengthening Greek positions, and also referring to the fact that Libya with recent announcements about our own maritime plots.
Passing on the issue of the new building regulation (NOK) and commenting on the possibility of manufacturers’ appeal to the European Court of Justice, Mr Papastavrou stressed that the government, as it respects the decisions of the Council of State (CoE), will also respect any decisions of the European Court of Justice. “In recent decades in our country we have had regulatory ambiguity, polynomial and arbitrariness, a reality that did not allow for rational urban planning. Today, 227 local urban planning and 18 special urban planning plans are being created, which will lead to urban planning in 80% of our country. This historical reform concludes with the codification for the first time of urban planning legislation, but also with the digitization of the Land Registry, “the Minister of Environment and Energy said. At the same time, he stressed that within the next 10 days the ministry is proceeding with a presidential decree, which will clarify key issues, such as: What is the concept of “starting work” in order to avoid misunderstandings. “Within this regulatory ambiguity, the Ministry is obliged to create legal security so that every owner and each manufacturer knows what is true and what is not true, thereby enhancing building activity,” Papastavrou said. He made a special reference to the issue of the settlements of less than 2,000 inhabitants and the decisions of the CoE in 2005, 2017 and 20219, to cancel the opportunity given to the prefects in 1985 to delimit settlements. As he pointed out, the CoE ruled that the prefects should not have the power to demarcate settlements, since they do not have the scientific competence for this, while their delimitation had a degree of arbitrariness. “Of the 10,000 settlements in the country, there are 150 settlements in Rethymnon and Pelion in which the CoE canceled the boundaries set by the prefects, so that building permits could not be issued there,” he said, noting that this was in danger of the other settlements. “The issue exists in Zone C -the zone at the boundaries of the settlements -which the CoE did not accept in the Presidential Decree. For this zone, wanting to create legal security, we proceed immediately with the processing of legislation, which will be in harmony with legislation and case law, but at the same time take into account the need to support small settlements and decentralization, while also providing answers.
The Minister of Environment and Energy also answered the new maritime spatial planning announced by the government, stressing that the protection of marine zones and marine ecosystem is a key priority of the ministry. Given the mark of the next moves, he recalled the announcement of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis from last year’s event of the 9th International Conference “Our Ocean Conference” held in Athens, which concerned the creation of two maritime parks in the South Aegean. 2025. “As the prime minister said, they will be banned in these parks, and there will be a sophisticated, special electronic surveillance system to protect the ecological viability of these maritime parks,” he said.
“For the first time we have a strategic planning for how we organize our seas and human activity in them. It is something we owe to future generations, “Mr Papastavrou concluded.