Greek Coastline: Positive new developments
Elliniki Etairia, Europa Nostra’s Country Representation in Greece, expresses satisfaction at the written statement by the Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Yiannis Maniatis, on the draft law promoted by the Ministry of Finance on coastal areas, which seems to forecast positive new developments.
“Τhe environmental protection of Greek coasts does not require a special bill for coastal areas and beaches, but only specific and simple regulations for institutional and legal protection as regards their reliable depiction on maps and charts,” stated Minister Maniatis.
Photo: Coastline of Patmos, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Andrea Moroni
“The only purpose of the regulations for the delimitation and protection of the coastal areas and the beaches should be the creation of a modern tool for defining the coastal areas, which will allow the timely completion of the most critical of the institutional lines, over the whole territory, in a transparent, scientifically and environmentally reliable manner,” he added.
Elliniki Etairia – Society for the Environment & Cultural Heritage, which has been very active in raising public awareness as a member of civil society, took from the very beginning, a firm stance against the proposed draft law, presenting the adverse environmental, cultural and economic consequences that such a development model would have on the country (with the recent examples of Spain and Turkey), while stressing the need to encourage investments respecting the environment and local communities, for the economic development of Greece.
On this critical issue – which has touched the public opinion – the leading European heritage organisation Europa Nostra has taken a clear position. The Executive President and Vice President of Europa Nostra, Denis de Kergorlay and Costa Carras, sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, on the 10th July, where they requested his intervention.
“We urge you to intervene with the Greek government in order to make necessary amendments to the proposed law currently under consideration by the Hellenic Parliament, with the view of ensuring full respect of a wide range of relevant EU policies and regulations. We believe that the proposed law must give special attention to ensuring due safeguard of the coastline on the Greek islands, which constitute a key resource for a sustainable tourism development in Greece. This would represent a major benefit for Greece’s economic, environmental and social development, and also an admirable achievement for yourself as the President of the European Commission”.
The Executive President of Europa Nostra, Denis de Kergorlay, also sent a letter to the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Antonis Samaras, stressing the catastrophic consequences the proposed provisions will have on the social, economic and environmental cohesion of Greece.
