The opposition to the Authority of the draft law of the Ministry of Environment and Energy “Conditions for building, construction, permitted land uses for data centers, zoning and urban planning regulations, utilization of Green Fund resources and other environmental and energy provisions” was declared by the special buyers of the parties during the his discussion in the Plenary of the Parliament.

The special buyer of PASOK-KINAL, Manolis Christodoulakis, said that “even if there are some positive articles that we agree with and we will vote for them, we are firmly against his philosophy and we will vote against it on the Authority”.

The MP argued that the draft law lacks a “central idea that governs it” and is a “stitching of amendments”. Mr. Christodoulakis criticized the government’s policy for its “inaction and non-compliance with the basic EU obligations and mandates that our country must comply with in the field of the environment”.

He attributed the piecemeal nature of the legislation, saying that this bill also consists of “a disparate network of provisions concerning urban and spatial planning and, to a lesser extent, the environment and energy”.

The PASOK buyer stated that the ministry “continues the instrumentalization of urban and spatial planning, through urban planning and not financial incentives, for the benefit of smaller or larger private interests”.

He clarified that “we are obviously in favor of investments that create economic growth and quality jobs, but these should be done respecting the existing rules, and not introducing even more exceptional and special regimes”. He disagreed with the creation of a special urban planning and zoning regime in the ports. He criticized the bill for “contempt of public administration».

He also referred to the possibilities of intervention “of the secretary general of the Ministry of Spatial Planning” and to “the perpetuation of the government’s standing practice of placing in the positions of supervisors transferred and not permanent employees until June 2024”.

On the contrary, he said that the provisions concerning the national strategy for biodiversity have a positive sign. The articles involving DEDDIE and the owners of Renewable Energy Sources stations in forest protection and forest fire fighting.

The Management Plans of the protected areas and the provision of additional advisory competence of OFYPEKA also for projects that do not fall under the environmental licensing regime. Regarding the provisions concerning RES, Mr. Christodoulakis said that here too “we are obviously in favor of the further simplification of the procedures related to the licensing and installation of RES. But this must be done with a stable and well-thought-out institutional framework that will take into account all environmental parameters and will not change within a few months.”

The special buyer of the KKE Diamanto Manolakou stated that her party will vote against the draft law, arguing that it “adjusts the urban planning conditions and rules to the demands of the so-called investors at the expense of the environment and the people’s needs”.

He criticized the bill as “piecemeal” with provisions that “favor business groups and facilitate their licensing without bureaucratic and institutional obstacles, at the expense of the environment and the needs of workers.”

He disagreed with the “favorable provisions” as he said “of a new operating framework in terms of building and construction with deviations of the permitted height and building factor for Data Centers, even in non-planned areas, agricultural lands and also within Natura protected areas.

Mrs. Manolakou also focused her criticism on the provisions concerning land-based port zones, saying that these “aim to speed up the handing over of the country’s ports to private individuals, granting them new privileges in terms of construction conditions, with the most typical example COSCO in the port of Piraeus”.

The special buyer of Hellenic Solution, Konstantinos Boubas, referring to the provisions of the bill, argued that the transfer to the municipality of Smyridorikta of Naxos is done without preparation – and with mathematical precision they will be closed.

He observed that there are still gaps in forest workers, the forest services do not have new operational action plans and equipment. Regarding Data Centers, he said that “we consider that they do not need that many” as they have an excessive “environmental footprint”.

Mr. Boubas wondered “who are hiding behind the Data Centers, which business interests, which caste of specific people, who are investing, but from that point on, they are harming the environment».

He emphasized that “we must protect the architectural landscape”. He argued that local authorities should have a more substantial and leading role in spatial planning.

Regarding the development of wind farms, he said that “in Evia, the Sporades, the Cyclades and Pagasitikos, we have environmental degradation from wind turbines. The same is done in arable fertile lands with photovoltaics” adding “soon in Serres it will become the largest photovoltaic park in Greece with four hundred and sixty five thousand panels”.

With regard to the provision concerning the land utilization of ports, he pointed out that existing plans will conflict with those proposed in the Development Program and the port management study. He asked for special attention for business activities in Natura areas because, when there is this loophole in the law, question marks enter.

The special buyer of “Spartiatons” Ioannis Dimitrokallis said that “we will vote against the bill in principle, but in which there are indeed articles that – with many asterisks of course – we will find positive”.

In particular, he characterized the article of the bill for the transfer of research and exploitation rights of Smyrida Naxos as “badly written with errors and vague” and requested its withdrawal. He pointed out that there are “many photographic arrangements, something that is expressly prohibited by the Constitution, such as for the property in the Middle Bridge area in Mandra that is being legalized or for the removal of the forced expropriation of property located on the borders of the former Municipalities of Tavros and Agios Ioannis Rentis . The MP emphasized that “we are the only country that does not have updated flood maps”.

Mr. Dimitrokallis stated that we agree with the placement of photovoltaics on the roofs, but requested that the photovoltaic batteries be subsidized, so that a household has an autonomy of 10 kilowatts, while regarding the offshore wind farms he stated that “we see them with a positive eye. But the ministry must take into account all the environmental conditions prevailing in each region”.

The special buyer of “Niki” Nikos Vrettos characterized the bill as “the joy of the photographer” as he argued that it contains many provisions for “services for friends and “complainants”, without scientific suggestions”.

He calculated that until now the minister has not adopted any of the observations of the organizations and parties made to the Committee. He requested that the provisions for Smyrida of Naxos be withdrawn until the workers’ consultation is completed. He expressed doubt that photovoltaics could work in quarries. He disagreed with the obligation to create plant fences in photovoltaic installations, especially for small installations. He asked for an extension of the RES suspension in Evros.

Regarding the urban planning and zoning regulations regarding Data Centers, he said that the new ones should be installed in Industrial and Industrial Parks and not in the urban fabric. He disagreed with offshore wind energy. He commented that “we knew you were in favor of offshore banks, but I didn’t know you would also have a weakness for offshore wind farms” arguing that “you are creating huge iron parks, which in 40 years will turn into cemeteries when they cease to have function and utility ».

The special buyer of Freedom of Navigation Spyros Bibilas said that his party will vote against the bill saying that it “causes us reasonable concerns and questions” as it “has piecemeal, bureaucratic and unpopular regulations and provisions that do not regulate the context” and “do not care about the environmental security”.

The Parliamentarian of Freedom of Navigation referring to the provisions on land use, said that he makes special arrangements by interfering with the flow of a spatial planning of the Territory to serve some interests.

The government, the MP said, “interferes by creating special facilities for Data Centers” even though, according to the law, they cannot be established in purely residential areas degrading and altering these areas, deteriorating the quality of life and burdening the environment, without provision compensatory benefits – something that is against the Constitution.

Data Centers, he said, should be installed in Industrial Parks as they are also particularly energy-intensive, consuming energy equal to that of a small city while also consuming large amounts of water. Mr. Bibilas focused on the need to define land use, with strict rules and demarcation of free zones.