Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-12-Speech-1-104"
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"en.20051212.16.1-104"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, over many years, the mild climate, the beautiful countryside, the low prices and the warmth and friendliness of the locals have encouraged thousands of Europeans to buy property in the Spanish region of Valencia.
In response to soaring demand and in order to discourage speculation, the Autonomous Government of Valencia adopted a land development law called the
(LRAU) in 1994. The European Parliament has since received thousands of petitions against the application of precisely that law. The petitioners are complaining about improper encroachment, as they see it, on their property rights by urban amenity and land development projects. The criticisms relate both to the substance – legal, economic and environmental legitimacy of such projects – and to the form – poor information, lack of transparency, excessively short deadlines for lodging challenges and proposals, and too low a level of compensation. They feel powerless in the face of a situation that is highly complex, since it should be remembered that legal and political responsibility in this area is shared between the Spanish Government as regards land law, the autonomous community of Valencia as regards local legislation concerning planning rules, and the municipalities which, on the basis of both Spanish and regional legislation, implement the programmes which they deem legitimate.
In order to familiarise itself with the situation on the ground, the Committee on Petitions sent two delegations, one in 2004 and one in 2005, to gather information from the various parties involved. As rapporteur, I was in the second delegation, and I was very impressed by the number of petitioners and found not only what they said but also their trust in Europe’s response very moving. I also valued the attention paid to us by the Valencian authorities and their willingness to cooperate.
The Community of Valencia is aware of the problems, and is currently in the process of drafting a new law, called the
(LUV), which will address the complaints raised by the petitioners. In a spirit of openness, the Valencian Government has also invited the European Parliament to put forward any suggestions it considers necessary.
Europe is often criticised for being remote from its citizens, and this is a good opportunity to show the opposite: the European Parliament, via its Committee on Petitions, is listening to the citizens. The problem, however, is that we cannot overstep our authority because we absolutely cannot give the citizens false hopes that will inevitably be dashed. With regard to the facts and Community competence, we therefore call on the European Commission to continue to ensure that the tendering procedure is followed and to monitor any breaches of the environmental directives. It already started to respond to our calls on 21 March, by opening infringement proceedings against the Kingdom of Spain for failure to comply with the directive on public procurement.
We have insisted to the regional government and to the municipalities that they should provide everyone affected by the LRAU with assistance enabling them to plan a possible process of rectification and compensation. We are calling for the environmental issues so crucial to the future of Europe to be taken into account in all projects.
I would like to thank my fellow Members who have shown such enthusiasm for this subject and who have improved my initial report, but I would remind them that we can only act within the bounds of our Community competences and that we have little room for manœuvre. Our response depends, and has depended, on our temperaments and on our commitments. Some tend to do a great deal, others not enough; I myself have tried to strike a happy medium, and it is in that spirit that the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe will table some amendments intended purely to refocus our efforts.
I am tempted to tell the European citizens affected by the LRAU that we have heard them, that we are appalled by the situation and that we are here not to judge, but to try to bring pressure to bear to ensure that they are all listened to and respected, and that, in the end, a fair and balanced solution will be found. I hope that this report will be successful, that the situation will ultimately be made fair for everyone and that the Committee on Petitions will once again be able to show that we are an important link in the chain of the relationship between the citizens and the European Parliament."@en1
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"Ley Urbanística Valenciana"1
"Ley reguladora de la actividad urbanística"1
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