Satisfactory and positive. This is the assessment made by the head of the Ministry of the Environment, Ángeles Vázquez, of the institutional trip he made last week to Brussels to analyze the situation of the wind industry in Galicia and seek a solution to the “blockade” of energies derived from the sector. of the paralysis of projects by the Galician High Court of Xustiza (TSXG). There were a total of three meetings in which there was not only a “good reception” of the work that the Community is doing in the field of green energies, he indicated, but also of the law on Simplified Administration of the Environment, “perfectly aligned with this idea”. Likewise, the Autonomous Executive is pleased that the Government will appear at the preliminary question, after having been summoned, and that, finally, its technicians will hold a meeting with those of the Ministry of Ecological Transition this Friday, after having requested a meeting with the minister at the beginning of August.
“To highlight the situation that is currently occurring in Galicia due to the so-called wind wave”, is how the President of the Executive, Alfonso Rueda, defined the objective of his minister’s trip to Brussels last week, which he reviewed at the press conference following the Governing Council on Monday. A situation that has a “direct impact” not only on the wind projects themselves, the President indicated, but also on the industrial projects that were to be supplied by them. Added to this is the preliminary question submitted to the Court of Justice of the European Union “after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Xunta de Galicia”. All these issues “forced” the regional government to travel to Brussels to “reveal the situation, its consequences and the actions and opinions” of the administration.
A trip during which the Ministry met with various directors-general and heads of the Permanent Representation of the State, and during which it became clear that “the European Commission shares the importance and importance of unblocking” the situation. “Galicia has the resource, it has the projects and the promoters, it needs to want to decarbonize and it has the necessary authorizations for these projects; but we find ourselves with this paralysis,” said the Minister. And, as the head of the Environment recalled, although Galicia became “the first region to implement wind energy”, in recent years it has become the fourth.
“Currently, we have a total of 3,900 megawatts, and by 2030 we should have 8,000 completed,” he explained, a goal that would be achieved “on time” if the 134 projects authorized by the Xunta continued. “The European Commission told us that green energy would be at the center of the presidency’s policy and that Galicia was perfectly aligned with this idea,” he assured. For all these reasons, he celebrated the fact that the Simplified Law on Environmental Administration has “the approval of the European Union.” The rule, which the Xunta is working on once the public consultation has ended, aims to facilitate project procedures, but also to provide greater legal certainty and guarantee the balance between environmental protection and the economic development of the Community.
Preliminary question
“However, the efforts made by the Galician Government are being met by the determination of the TSXG”, which has presented a preliminary ruling that “causes a significant delay in the possibility of implementing more megawatts in the territory”. A preliminary ruling, he assured, is based on the fact that “the Spanish State did not correctly transpose the Environmental Assessment Directive” in 2013. “This was done with the same rigor and in the same way in Galicia as in the rest of the country. communities”, but despite all this and “deviating from the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court”, they have chosen to present it.
A preliminary question in which, at the request of the European Court of Justice, Galicia will appear. Likewise, although they have not obtained “any type of information from the central government”, they have also learned in Brussels that representatives of the State will also be present, after having been summoned. “It could not be otherwise, but we are much more serene knowing” that they will leave, said the minister.
In fact, Vázquez continued, due to the concern raised in the Ministry due to the damaging issue and “this wave of paralysis”, they requested a meeting with the Minister of Ecological Transition at the beginning of the month. A meeting that “decided to decline” when he understood that “it had to be of a technical nature”, although “for the first time” he recognized “that it was a problem not only for Galicia, but also for Spain”. However, that same Monday, the Xunta Environment portfolio was informed that on the 20th, its technicians could meet with those of the Ministry. “Of course, we will be there”, he said, “because we are convinced that this is not a game that should be played only at home. “It is a party at the national level and, if Spain wants to comply with it and does not want any more delays, it must not only appear, but also seek allies in other countries.”
