The EU claims to Spain the pending compensatory measures earlier than addressing the brand new extension of El Prat | Economy | EUROtoday

The extension of the Barcelona-El Prat airport should earn the approval of the European Commission. For now, the establishment that presides over Ursula von der Leaden claims to Spain that, earlier than approaching the work, apply the required measures to shut the file that’s ongoing as a result of medium -uely deterioration that brought on within the Delta del Llobregat a earlier reworking of the airport infrastructure, greater than twenty years in the past. Specifically, the case dates again to 2004, when the observe that’s now meant to lengthens was inaugurated, and Brussels remembers that it has maintained an open process – re -lative to that earlier extension of the aerodrome – for the degradation of the ecosystem, and requires a sequence of compensation as an indispensable situation to have the ability to give the inexperienced mild to the brand new extension plan, introduced on Tuesday by the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa.

Community sources, after being requested in regards to the case, point out that representatives of the Catalan authorities, AENA and the European Commission met in Brussels on April 2. The Community Executive “recalled during the meeting that, before moving forward with any new project to expand the airport, the Spanish authorities must fully apply the necessary measures to end the ongoing infraction procedure,” in accordance with the aforementioned sources.

Almost 20 years after the extension of Barcelona airport in 2004, the Commission opened a file to Spain by which it required the competent authorities to “take the necessary measures to avoid a greater deterioration of the Delta del Llobregat”, which the Commission considers an area of “an exceptional biodiversity that plays a crucial role in the migratory routes of many species of European birds”. The Generalitat, which has the competences in environmental issues, promised to implement compensatory measures that the neighborhood govt nonetheless calls for.

The Government assumes that there are nonetheless pending actions to fulfill the neighborhood calls for, however it’s dominated out that this will probably be a difficulty that may tarnish the expectations created by the extension venture introduced this week. The Generalitat defends that particular safety areas for birds have already been accepted and areas are being renatured that, on the time, have been improperly paved, as was the case of two areas enabled as car parking tons, inside an area cataloged as Red Natura 2000.

In this sense, the Government maintains that it’ll not ask for the authorization of the European Commission till the compensation are accomplished and the neighborhood file has been closed.

The April assembly in the neighborhood capital was attended by the top of the Compliance Unit for the Environmental Regulations of the European Commission, Nicola Notaro. According to public minutes, Noteo urged the Generalitat and Aena to “guarantee the total implementation of the necessary measures” to appropriate the unfavorable results of the earlier growth, particularly in relation to migratory birds.

The European Commission can have the final phrase on the funding of three.2 billion euros introduced by Illa on Tuesday. The new extension, whose plan fixes 2033 as an execution date, would have a brand new environmental influence on about 28 hectares of a particular ecological curiosity, which has European safety when belonging to the Natura 2000 community. The venture agreed by the Ministry of Transportation, the Generalitat and Aena plans airport.

At the April assembly, Notaro pressured that EU’s environmental necessities have to be met earlier than any venture launched. The habitat directive doesn’t prohibit any building that has a “significant negative impact” on an area of the Natura 2000 community, nevertheless it does require that, in that case, it have to be justified for “imperative reasons of public interest” and would require the prior authorization of the European Commission, along with the adoption by the Member State of “how many compensatory measures are necessary to guarantee” the safety.

During the presentation on Tuesday of the venture of the brand new airport growth, Illa acknowledged that the Generalitat has a number of pending points associated to the 2021 file, and confirmed its dedication to fixing them. One of them was resolved final yr with the growth of the particular hen safety zone within the Delta del Llobregat, which went from having an extension of 1,470 hectares to 2,407.

AENA will approve in 2026 its 5 -year funding plan and have the El Prat Master Plan in 2028, however for this it’s going to require that the Commission has beforehand given the approval of the brand new extension.