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NEWS
from GREECE
The public works ministry has floated a
controversial land-zoning butl.
But within two weeks of been published the finance ministry is
adding to it in with a new draft law on all coastal areas.
This new bill sets out criteria for the
definition of seashores along with all conditions and requirements for
their development.
The introduction of this new bill has
brought a barrage of criticism from Greece's ombudsman, the Technical
Chamber and assorted environmentalists.
During a conference organized by the
environmental protection group Mediterranean S.O.S. group.
Yiannis Alavanos president of the country’s Technical
chamber (TEE) witch represents architects, engineers, and planners and
who also acts as an official advisor to the state, said that the have
taken the position that the bill should be returned and
rewritten.
One of the main criticisms is that the
wrong ministry has been used to draw up this draft.
This bill has been drafted by the finance
ministry alone and not in co-operation with other relevant ministries
Vassiliki Karagiorgou, a lawyer specializing in environmental issues
who works for the Greek ombudsman, queried why an independent
authority was not set up to investigate citizen complaints against
public bodies.
One of the main criticisms directed at
the bill is that it introduces a bizarre distinction between seashore
and beach.
The bill's authors say that the seashore
is a natural phenomenon defined by the farthest reach of waves during
winter, but that the beach is an administrative concept, not a natural
one. As a result, the bill provides no method for the legal definition
of beach, while definitions of seashore abound. Critics suspect that
the distinction has been introduced to facilitate beach development
and retroactively legalise state building violations on the littoral.
Karagiorgou said that such a distinction
"is not compatible with Article 24 of the constitution and European
law", while town planners say that this could lead to a new spate of
illegal building along Greece's coastline.
"The articles on the beach are
unacceptable to us," said Alavanos and added that they constitute a
significant step back for Greece. "TEE thinks that the sort of coastal
management outlined in the bill should be also condemned on economic
grounds," he said.
Scientists, environmentalists and the
ombudsman also say that even though one of the first things the bill
says is that Greece's coastline should be managed sustainable and with
respect to zoning rules, the rest of the text does not pay attention
to either of these principles.
Nikos Chrysogelos, who presides over
Mediterranean SOS, said that the reasoning behind the bill is obsolete
because it does not examine the coast as an ecosystem nor does it take
into account the scientific developments of the last few decades or
the experience of other countries.
Greece's coastline is the longest of all
European countries at 16,500 kilometers. Along with the country's
antiquities, it is widely considered the main attraction for millions
of tourists.
Environmentalists and scientists are also
skeptical regarding provisions that enable the state to legalize
unlicensed constructions on the seafront. However, everyone admits
that the bill also takes a number of positive steps. It anticipates
the creation of a coast register, stipulates a new method for the
definition of the seashore, requires that the state should expropriate
large tracts of land in the coastal zone and provides stricter
penalties for offenders.
Panagiotis Vrettakos, a lawyer who took
part in the drafting of the bill, defended its provisions. He said
that a new bill had to be drafted because since 2003, when the
precious coastal protection bill - also drafted by the finance
ministry- came into force, the courts have received a barrage of
requests for clarification. He gave a number of legal arguments for
the separation between seashore and beach effected by the bill and
added that the provisions for the legalisation of constructions along
the coast are necessary because the vast majority belongs to the
state. He added that in most cases the constructions are illegal
because of minor omissions during the licensing and construction
process.
However this being the case, the bill is likely to cause many debates
in parliament. as when its predecessor was discussed by parliament in
2001, as many as 57 adjustments had to be made within six hours after
government MPs threatened to vote it down.
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