With a slap on the wrist to the administrations involved for their lack of coordination to solve the degradation of the Mar Menor; Along with a reprimand for those who tried to hide the mud of the lagoon during the visit of the MEPs, the delegation of the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament said goodbye this Friday, which has spent three days investigating the environmental catastrophe of the lagoon.
The president of the delegation, Tatjana Zdanoka, offered a balance of the visit and announced that, as a representative of Los Verdes, she will propose in the final recommendations that an audit of European funds for the Mar Menor be carried out. The report with the recommendations will take three months and will be done with the contributions of all the political groups in the European Parliament. At the press conference held at the Amistad hotel in Murcia, Zdanoka summed up these three days of work by indicating that the MEPs have been able to verify “first-hand the environmental seriousness of the Mar Menor” and the eutrophication it is suffering, in relation to the visit of the Thursday.
He pointed out that it is always “better to see once than to hear 17 times, even taking into account the preparatory work that had occurred and that had covered the black by covering it with beige, but we already see that it is not possible to cover those things,” Zdanoka said. , without mentioning the possible authors. The Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Luengo, denied, during the visit to the lagoon, that an operation ‘covered with mud’ had taken place so that the MEPs would not see it. He said that there are “beach maintenance tasks that are carried out throughout the year.”
Zdanoka showed this Friday two containers with water collected from the lagoon, which is taken to Latvia to be analyzed
Although the recommendations will take time to be known, the head of the European delegation advanced some considerations, noting that it is “a problem with many origins, which must be addressed at all levels of administrations, and also of the European authorities”. He stressed that “one of the immediate problems” that must be addressed “is the coordination that is lacking between the different levels at which decisions are made,” he added in reference to the discrepancies that exist between the regional government and the Ministry, although not she wanted to delve into it when she was asked. She also pointed out that the delegation “is aware” that most of the causes of the deterioration of the Mar Menor “are linked to economic activities, which in turn are a source of employment and income in the Region of Murcia.” Tatjana Zdanoka stressed that there is a catalog of solutions, but “the problem lies in their application.” “We have the firm intention of doing everything within our powers to include in the final report the necessary recommendations that allow all the institutions involved to work hand in hand to solve this environmental problem that affects the Mar Menor.”
Audit European funds
The report will be submitted within three months to the Petitions Commission, whose members will have to debate and vote on its content. Recommendations and conclusions will be raised that will require “a longer and more difficult process because there are proposals that contradict each other.” He emphasized that in politics the difficult thing is to make decisions and proposed to wait until the end. He pointed out that, as a representative of the Los Verdes group, which defends transparency, he will request that an audit of the European funds destined for the Mar Menor be included, although he admitted that he cannot predict the result of the ruling.
He pointed out that MEPs are not “scientists or researchers”, but pointed out that the six members of the delegation “have prepared themselves in advance” with the many requests, reports and explanations they have received since 2016. “I think it will be enough for us to make our recommendations,” he added.
Zdanoka will carry out an “independent analysis” of the lagoon water in Riga
«I take a souvenir; these two water samples that I just showed; and in Riga I will ask for an analysis. There he will surely be independent and it will be very interesting to see what results he will have. This was expressed by the president of the delegation of the Petitions Committee, Tatjana Zdanoka, providing a blow of effect during the press conference. She indicated that the commission has gathered enough information in these three days to make its opinion. “It has been a brief visit, but very intense,” she stressed to signify the numerous meetings with more than 60 petitioners and representatives of organizations. Dolors Montserrat, president of the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament, came out to meet the water sample that Zdanoka plans to analyse. She said that she, in this case, was acting as a representative of the Greens, and not as head of the delegation. Zdanoka’s gesture indirectly questioned the analyzes carried out in the Region, although she said that it was a souvenir.
Dolors Montserrat proposes to make the environment and the economy compatible
The spokeswoman for the Popular Group in the European Parliament and president of the Petitions Committee, Dolors Montserrat, stated that the Mar Menor “needs Europe to lead coordination between administrations so that together we can recover the ecosystem.” Montserrat joined the last session of the investigation mission this Friday, as a companion along with the other four Spanish parliamentarians. She clarified that she could not attend earlier for personal reasons, and not because of the PP crisis.
He considered that the Region is going to take advantage of the opportunity offered by Europe to harmonize the protection measures of the Mar Menor. In his opinion, the solution does not go exclusively through the municipalities and the regional government, but also through the Government of Spain and the EU. In relation to the money that is needed, he pointed out that the regional Executive has budgeted 85 million euros for this year to implement protection measures for the Mar Menor, “while the Government of Spain does not dedicate a single euro from the General State Budgets” . He also stressed that Europe has to help coordinate administrations.
In his opinion, the regeneration of the Mar Menor must be made compatible with the protection of economic and social activity around the ecosystem. Regarding the balance made by Tatjana Zdanoka, the MEP specified that an important task remains in the Petitions Committee to prepare a consensus document, since all the political groups will make their contributions to the document.
For his part, the PP spokesman in the Assembly, Joaquín Segado, expressed his “gratitude” to the European Parliament delegation and once again proposed the creation of a high commissioner.
Last meeting with experts
The European delegation held this Friday its last meeting with experts from the academic field, linked to the University of Murcia and the Polytechnic of Cartagena, to learn about their analyzes and proposals. Miguel Ángel Esteve, Julia Martínez, Francisco Javier Gilabert, former deputy Antonio Urbina, Alejandro Pérez, Ángel Faz and Alfredo Pérez, as well as Ginés Luengo, dean of the Region’s College of Biologists, attended.
The PSOE hopes that the visit will help the regional government “abandon the confrontation”
The spokesman for the PSOE in the Regional Assembly, Francisco Lucas, expressed his hope that the visit of the European parliamentarians “serves so that the regional Executive abandons the confrontation, and consolidates the work of the Government of Spain for the recovery of the salty lagoon », he said in a statement. «It is very necessary that López Miras assumes his powers. It has been 26 years of laziness and abandonment of functions and the time has come to act and coordinate with the Executive of Spain », he insisted.
He noted that the visit of the delegation has taken place “thanks to the efforts” of the Socialist and Democratic Group in the EU. “He requested it in 2019, although it was rejected by the Popular Party,” among other political forces. «Last year we requested it again and finally this week we have been lucky enough to have the European delegation». He thanked the work of the Murcian MEP Marcos Ros.
“Causes embarrassment”
The spokeswoman for Podemos in the Regional Assembly, María Marín, conveyed to the European delegation her proposal to create a large nature reserve that groups the entire salt lagoon and its coastline. Marín, who participated in the meeting that the MEPs held with the spokesmen of the regional Parliament, defended the support for the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) to give legal personality to the lagoon.
For the deputy of Podemos, the meeting has left “a somewhat bittersweet feeling”, since, despite the fact that it is good news that the European institutions know first-hand the reality in which the Mar Menor finds itself, the simple existence of reasons for sending a fact-finding mission “causes embarrassment”.
