Compromís has expressed its "disagreement" with the formula chosen for the processing of the Forest Law, which, after being registered by the parliamentary group 'popular' in Les Corts and not by the Consell, will be debated in the Plenary of the autonomous chamber for its consideration next Wednesday, October 7. For this reason, the coalition has urged the PP to request an opinion from the Consell Jurídic Consultiu in order to prevent "subterfuges" in the content of the regulation.
The deputy spokesperson for Compromís in Les Corts, Paula Espinosa, has denounced that this chosen path "allows to bypass the mandatory report of the CJC," although she has reminded that parliamentary regulations empower the group promoting the initiative to "voluntarily request the report," so she has urged the PP to request it.
Espinosa has emphasized in a statement that the Forest Law was publicly presented by the Consell and that the president himself, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, "referred to it publicly before the media a few weeks ago."
"Despite this, the law has not arrived at Les Corts as a bill from the Consell, but as a bill proposal from the Popular Group. The way ultimately chosen avoids exposure and public consultation procedures and the mandatory reports from bodies such as the Consell Jurídic Consultiu," the deputy criticized.
From Compromís, this movement is interpreted as a "maneuver" that "reduces guarantees" for a law "of great significance for the Valencian territory." "We are talking about a law that regulates the management of our mountains, fundamental for the prevention of fires and the future of our rural environment. A regulation of this significance demands all legal guarantees, not a subterfuge to save on controls," Espinosa has emphasized.
Consequently, Compromís challenges the Popular Party to activate the mechanism provided in the regulations of Les Corts and, as the proposing group, formally request the Consell Jurídic Consultiu to prepare a report on the Forest Law Proposal in which "the possible legal conflicts and any regulatory violations that may occur" are studied.
"In the same week, the Valencian right has launched two laws that can change the future of our territory for decades, such as the Land Law and the Forestry Law. We cannot allow haste and the lack of guarantees to provoke reforms of enormous significance," warned the Compromís parliamentarian.
"It 'flexibilizes' controls and opens the door to new uses of land
In this same line, the deputy has warned that the forestry law, in its current wording, "will allow converting lands that are now forested into agricultural lands, opening the door for them to later be developable"; it incorporates "exceptions" after the fires and "flexibilizes some prior controls that were previously protected".
"From Compromís we consider that, if the Popular Party is convinced that this reform offers all the guarantees of protection for our territory, it will have no problem applying greater legal controls to the presented text, with experts who will say whether this law is correctly linked to our legal system," concluded Espinosa.