The European Commission has run out of patience with Spain. If you don’t execute “quickly and efficiently” the sentence of EU Court of Justice of June 24, 2021 on the wetlands of Doñana, who confirmed that Spain had not guaranteed sustainable management of the underground water masses that feed the wetlands, will go to the European courts again and request the imposition of fines against Spain. The warning appears in a new infringement procedure launched this Friday by Brussels after verifying the breach of the sentence.
According to Brussels, Spain has not only not respected the framework directive on water. Nor has it taken adequate measures to stop the deterioration of protected natural habitats in several Natura 2000 sites designated by the Spanish authorities around the national park and within Doñana, as required by the European directive on habitats. According to the diagnosis of the Commission, the decision of the European court is consistent with the community commitment to preserve the exceptional value of Doñana, and both the European Green Deal as the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 recognize it as “crucial” that the EU halt biodiversity loss by protecting and restoring biodiversity.
However, “after the exchange of notes with the Spanish authorities and in light of the scientific information available on these issues, the Commission has reached the conclusion that the measures that Spain has applied to date are insufficient to put an end to the infraction declared by the Court & rdquor ;, warns the Executive in a statement. The result is the sending of a letter of summons, the first step in a new infringement procedure. The Spanish authorities now have a period of two months to submit comments to the problems identified by Brussels.
Notices since February
According to the procedure, and after examining these allegations, the European Commission could refer the matter back to the Court of Justice of the EU and request “that financial sanctions be imposed on Spain.” The Community Executive already sent a letter to Spain last February warning of the problems posed by the new andalusian lawwhich regularizes 1,400 hectares of irrigated crops, in relation to the application of the sentence which concluded that Spain has not adopted appropriate measures to avoid appreciable alterations of the types of habitats protected in Doñana.
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“We are deeply concerned about the recent plans that would add to the unsustainable levels of water extraction that have already caused a significant decrease in the piezometric levels of specific sectors of the Doñana groundwater masses,” the spokesman warned six months ago. on environmental issues of the Community Executive, Adalbert Jahnz A month later, in a parliamentary response, the Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, showed again the “concern & rdquor; of the Executive for the impact of the legislation on the wetland and urged Spain to address the causes of the deterioration in the park’s surroundings and to comply with the European directives on water and habitats.
“The European Commission has reacted to the paralysis of the PP government in Andalusia and supports the urgency of saving Doñana that we have been demanding from the United Left. We need an urgent reaction from the PP government, which puts the natural space at the center and rejects this policy of continuous aggression against the park, which seriously harms farmers who consume legally granted water & rdquor ;, the IU MEPs have celebrated, Sira Rego and Manu Pineda.