Non Vote in Strasbourg on withholding subvention funds to Spain: 22/10/09

There was a good deal of interest attracted to what should have been avote, on October 22 on a Greens amendment to the EU Budget that, had it succeeded would have moved some 185 million euros into a "reserve" unlessand until Spain and in particular, Valencia had brought its land laws and practices into accord with EU norms as regards, for example the environment, public contracts , etc. That amount was calculated to be the portion ofthe subventions for Spain that would be allocated , by Madrid , to Valencia.Such an amendment had been defeated in the budget committee a few days earlier, but was reintroduced at the level of the plenary. There is no doubt a fuller explanation available, but on Oct 22, PresidentBuzek of the Parliament ruled the amendment to be not eligible to be votedupon. He apparently did this on the basis of advice from his professional staff on procedural grounds that could equally be argued differently. Whether they had in turn been subject to lobbying by, for example SpanishMEPs is not clear. The Greens ( and others) are actively exploring ways by which this issue can be brought to a vote again before the next budget cyclein a year's time. The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty if it is indeed tobe ratified soon , may provide an occasion to try once more, since there are budgetary implicatations that will need to be considered by the Parliament .AUN had, before Oct 22, approached several of our supportive MEPs acrossnational and party lines to press for a yes vote. We believed, on the basis of feedback, that there would have been a good chance of a positive vote onthe amendment, but that must remain speculation for now. Our arguments in support of the concept of this proposal were based on the fact that this amendment would be a confirmation, in practical terms, of the Auken report adopted with a solid majority in Strasbourg on March 26th of this year. It would also have been a way of aquainting newly elected MEPswith the core issues of that report. Another contention is that while this money would be withheld for some time, not withdrawn, Spain itself should not be receiving such funds based on the strength, until recently, of its economy. According to reports at the time it was agreed that Spain would continue to receive stability pact subventions until then, this was only because Spain threatened to block EU expansion. How can Spain in the meantime boast that it is economically better off than Italy, which receives no such subventions and at the same time demand entry into the G20 forexample and still contend that it should receive EU hand outs at least until2013? CVS of AUN

Historical entries from NOV 2008 to May 2009

20 May 09 The PNALC presented a proposal to change the Spanish Coastal Law (ley de costas) in a press conference in Madrid.The proposed changes relate to the definition of the sea shore (ZMT) and beach area (playa), new conditions for the transmition of coastal demarcation lines (deslindes), with a ban on retroactive application to legal property built before 1988 and including a requirement to pay monetary indemnity for any expropriation. Furthur changes include clarifying the 20meter protection zone conditions, and making the authorities responsable for correcting coastal errosion in relation to public works such as breakwaters and ports. VIDEO in English of Presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbjR9crNQ8s 30 April 09 The power of the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament (EP) is being threatened by restriction in the Corbett report approved recently by the Committee on Institutional Affairs. This would undermine their chance of reflecting citizens' concerns fully in plenary and may have serious effects on our present petition, which was included in the AUKEN report approved by the EP. It would make it practically impossible for the Petitions Committee to produce a similar report in the future. Please write to your local MEP and ask them to back an ammendment to the CORBETT report as proposed by the Petitions Committee. Dear Sir or Madam: As a citizen of the European Union, I am disappointed and seriously concerned over the change to rule 192 included in the Corbett report(amendment 179) adopted by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs in Strasbourg. This will mean a very serious diminution of the power of decision of the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament. Practice has shown the extraordinary value of the Petitions Committee to take and resolve complaints directly from citizens. This new measure will in practice prevent any initiative that does not originate in the party political machinery and will call into question the effectiveness of the democratic values of the society in which we live. Please, make all the efforts that are possible, to prevent the final adoption of this particular amendment by Corbett and, by considering an alternate amendment, allow the Committee on Petitions to continue serving the citizens with the same freedom with which it has done so far. List of MEP in the UK http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/zoneList.do?country=GB&language=ENList of MEP from Spain http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/search.do?country=ES&language=EN 30 MAR 09 Please Sign our Petition .Following the criticism by the European Union of the abusive arbitrary and retroactive application of the Spanish Coastal Law (Ley De Costas) we are now collecting signatures to appeal to the Spanish authorities to change the law as required by the EU.Please print out the petition form ,along with the extract of the report from the EU, and ask people to support us. Everyone needs to include their European identity details (passport or identity card number). To obtain a copy of the form and extract from the EU please send an email to :- englishspeakinggroup@afectadosleydecostas.com Once complete, please return to:- PNALC (English speaking group) Plaza Mariano Benlliure 21, 1ºEl Puig,46540 Valencia.SPAIN 26 MAR 09 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVED THE AUKEN REPORT re abuses by the Spanish State of property rights and the destruction of the environment. AUKEN REPORT http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2009-0192+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN The Auken report also attacks the (Ley de Costas), Coastal Law, which it says has to be urgently revised to protect the rights of the legitimate owners of property and those who own small plots of land on the coast which have no negative impact on the coastal environment. The report threatens sanctions. 12 FEB 09The Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament has modified the AUKEN report to include criticism of the 1988 Spanish coastal law (ley de costas) . The report was approved and calls on the government of Spain to revise the coastal law in order to protect legally aquired property rights. The European Parliament itself will vote on the report on the 26 March. Please write to your MEP, tell him/her about your problem and ask him/her to support the Auken report on 26 March. a)The MEP from your area in the UK http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/zoneList.do?country=GB&language=EN b) An MEP from Spain http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/search.do?country=ES&language=EN Give details of your circumstance and mention The pressure group PNALC (plataforma afectados ley de costas). For additional information send an e-mail to englishspeakinggroup@afectadosleydecostas.com For more information on the legal side see web site :-http://www.costasmaritimas.com/ FEB 09A change in law has been initiated that may allow the sale and purchase of the concession which is granted as compensation in kind, for loss of property ownership when land is included in the public domain. The maximum life of the concession will remain as 30+30 years. JAN 09 the petitions committee met on the 20th of January but there was no report from the "commission" on their initial thoughts about the abusive application of the Spanish Coastal Law. They discussed Margrete Aukens report on the effects of massive urbanisation and the lack of respect of property rights, in the urbanistic and coastal laws, in Spain. The draft report goes as far as suggesting witholding European funds from Spain untill the issue is addressed. There will be another meeting in February to agree the final wording of the report. NOV 08 The petitions committee prepared a critical report on the lack of respect for PROPERTY RIGHTS in Spain. People affected by the coastal law were asked to write to :-Margrete Auken (Danish MEP) margrete.auken@europarl.europa.eutelling her about their particular problem. 23 JULY 08 The petitions committee of the European Parliament has accepted petition number 0174-08 regarding the abusive application of the Spanish coastal law (ley de costas 1988) sent in by the lawyer Jose Ortega on behalf of PNALC a group of 20000 people affected by the coastal law. The Chairman of the petitions Committee, Marcin Libicki, reported that the content of the complaint does relate to the activities of the European Union and that the European Parliament has asked the Commission to execute a preliminary investigation. The decision of the Committee on Petitions comes at a symbolic moment, since the 28th of July is the twentieth anniversary of the 1988 coastal law.