Tina’s “Rambo” team is coming

Environment minister Tina Birbili is preparing strict checks not only before, but also after the founding of an
investment, under a new regulation for environmental licensing that she will bring to parliament by May

According to Birbili, until today there has been no controlling agent for the implementation of the environmental conditions that have been approved by the Department or the relevant prefecture for an investment, and heralds stricter rules either through the Environmental inspectors or a new body.

The bad news is that many companies appear to go against the law consistently regarding their permits; few are those who adopt the rules and conditions under which they have received the relevant approvals.

For the forthcoming legislation, the Environment minister has already received criticism from fellow ministers, who believe that she is stalling its establishment, at a time when the country needs more flexibility in the introduction and development of new investments.

On the ministry’s part, the matter is overseen by the special secretary of Waters, Andreas Andreadakis, who recently stated he is very optimistic about reducing the time needed for an approval of an Environmental Impact Study. According to estimates, the new framework will need fewer signatures and bureaucracy in the licensing process, and a new study will be approved in seven months as compared to the two to three years that are required in some cases today.  

Birbili believes that one year should be a reasonable period and would eliminate any diffusion of environmental approval responsibilities to chambers promoted by Regional Development minister Michalis Chrysochoidis.

The aim of the ministry is the reduction of the average time for an environmental permit in order for it to approach that of the member states of the EU, the reduction of the burden of environmental licencing services by 50%, but also the speeding up of consultative procedures along with the reduction of the number of signatures required for the issuing of the Environmental Conditions Approval (EPO).