Brussels warns Andalusia that the irrigation law is contrary to the CJEU ruling and can "deteriorate" Doñana

He also sees Spain's measures as insufficient despite the "probable negative impact" of the proposal

BRUSSELS, 24 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) -

The European Commission has warned that the Andalusian Government's bill to regularize irrigation in Doñana could "deteriorate" the wetland since it "seems to go in the opposite direction" to the ruling of the Superior Court of Justice (TJUE) that obliges protect it, although it also points out that the measures adopted so far by Spain to guarantee its compliance "are not enough, even without taking into account the probable negative impact of the proposed legislation".

This was stated by a spokesperson for the Community Executive after the meeting that the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, held this Monday in Brussels with the Andalusian Minister for Sustainability, the Environment and the Blue Economy, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco.

The meeting, initially scheduled for May 3, called at the request of the Board, was held after the commissioner himself warned last week, in a parliamentary response to Socialist MEPs, that he will use "all the means at his disposal " to guarantee that Spain complies "effectively and without delay" with the CJEU ruling.

According to the same sources, the commissioner has insisted that the Community Executive is "deeply concerned" by the fact that the proposed Andalusian legislation, if adopted as proposed, could "deteriorate" the protected Doñana wetland, one of the largest in Europe and of the utmost importance for the coherence of the Natura 2000 Network, while the "full and timely" application of the CJEU rulings remains a "priority".

The commissioner, aware of the importance of irrigation for the local economy, recalled that EU legislation requires a sustainable use of water and the conservation of protected areas, especially in the face of the episode of drought suffered by Spain, and warned that Further deterioration of the state of groundwater bodies can have disastrous effects for the conservation of the fragile ecosystems of the Doñana wetlands, which is one of the EU's biodiversity "hot spots".

Brussels has underlined that there is strong evidence that intensive agriculture and nearby tourist complexes are related to the reduction of rafts throughout Doñana, which shows that the current levels of exploitation of groundwater are "unsustainable" and require measures " urgent" to control the extractions.

In this sense, the same community sources have affirmed that the proposed bill creates a "favorable" legal framework for the recognition of rights to use rainwater and rights to use surface water that would add to the "excessive pressure" on the already overexploited groundwater masses.

Finally, Sinkevicius has advanced that the Commission will now "carefully" evaluate the clarifications provided in the letters from the Spanish Government and the Junta de Andalucía last Friday.