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NEWS from GREECE

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Nikos Chrysogelos, who presides over Mediterranean SOS, said that the reasoning behind the bill is obsolete because it does not examine the coast as an ecosystem nor does it take into account the scientific developments of the last few decades or the experience of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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