MPs admit there are "mistakes" in the Protected Areas initiative

2024-02-01 09:35:00, Aktualitet CNA

MPs admit there are "mistakes" in the Protected Areas initiative

Illustrative photo

The Socialist Party has taken a step back by admitting that there are wording errors in their proposals for changing the law on "Protected Zones", after the opposition of the draft by environmental protection organizations. Meanwhile, MP Jorida Tabaku asked for the intervention of the EU, claiming that the changes contradict the recommendations of the progress report.

The initiator of the draft law on "Protected Areas", Fadil Nasufi, admitted on Wednesday that there were mistakes in the wording of the proposals and that legal expertise will be required to process it.

Nasuf's statement was made during the second session of hearings with representatives of environmental organizations in the Commission for Production Activities, Trade and Environment.

"The draft has errors in terms of the legislative procedure, we are open to it going to expertise" - said Nasufi, adding that, in the proposals submitted to the Assembly, "the concept of the message was given more than the correct legal wording".

"We agree to reflect and do the right thing," he added.

In hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, representatives of environmental organizations strongly opposed these changes as an attempt to pave the way for the destruction of Protected Areas and demanded the withdrawal of the proposals.

Even the chairman of this commission, Arben Pëllumbi, admitted that the draft that was being discussed would change taking into account, according to him, the comments of the government and organizations.

"We will see what product we will have, taking into account the opinion of the Council of Ministers and your proposals" - he told the environmental activists during the meeting.

However, Pëllumbi did not give a clear answer to the activists whether the final draft will be included in a new consultation process with civil society actors and the public.

At the hearing, Aleksandër Trajçe, director of the Center for Conservation and Protection of the Natural Environment (PPNEA) and Olsi Nika, executive director of the Center for the Conservation of Natural Ecosystems, expressed their views on the draft law.

Trajçe told the deputies that the claims on which their proposals are based "are incorrect and untrue".

"All the problems that are identified as obstacles are solved through the mechanisms that the current law has" - he emphasized, adding that changes can only be requested after the law in force has been better implemented and its problems have been identified.

Olsi Nika also defended the position that the law in force does not need to be changed and that the proposals contradicted its purpose.

"The reasons announced by the initiators for these changes are reasons that the law has not overlooked," he said. According to him, the wording of the articles of the draft law conflicted with each other and that the draft would have to go through an extensive consultation process with field technicians.

The draft law has also been opposed by the opposition and MP Jorida Tabaku, through a letter addressed to the institutions of the European Union, calling their intervention urgent to stop the legal attempt of the parliamentary majority.

"Proposals for amending the law of protected areas contradict the Stabilization-Association and Progress Agreement-report of the European Commission" - she wrote on the X platform, where she made public the letters addressed to the EC commissioners for Enlargement and the Environment and the committee external to the European Parliament.

"The commission possesses the necessary expertise and influence to deal with and contribute effectively towards the solution of this urgent issue" - writes Tabaku, describing the initiative as a step back in the country's integration efforts.

The initiative was submitted in November to the Assembly by a group of socialist deputies, 3 weeks after 16 SP mayors asked the Assembly that the law should allow them to participate in the administration of these areas in the territories of their municipalities.

However, the new changes, in addition to giving administration of 20 percent of the territory to the municipalities, foresee allowing investments and industrial activity in the Natural Protected Areas, reducing the level of their protection./ BIRN