LNG terminals in Trieste: a dangerous game.
Source: Greenaction Transnational’s website: LINK
Links and notes: Free Trieste.
ON JULY 24th THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION INCLUDES THE PLANNED LNG TERMINA IN TRIESTE’S PORT AMONG THE PROJECTS IN THE COMMUNITY’S STRATEGIC INTEREST.
REGION FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA DOES NOT OPENLY OPPOSE, SHIELDING BEHIND SLOVENIA, WHICH DECIDES NOT TO DENOUNCE TO COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES THE VIOLATION OF THE CROSS-BORDER E.I.A.
Trieste, JULY 15TH, 2013
The battle against the LNG terminals planned in the Gulf of Trieste is at a turning point. Despite the opposition of the citizens of both Trieste and Slovenia, on July 24th, 2013 in Brussels thanks to Italy’s pressing, the European Commission is evaluating Gas Natural’s planned LNG terminal as a potentially strategic, priority infrastructure.
If approved, the Spanish company’s project, despite the significant flaws of its Environmental Assessment (all covered-up by Italian authorities) would be set for construction.
At that point, the only way to stop it would be calling for the incompatibility of EU legislation within the international Free Port of Trieste.
Greenaction Transnational has already mentioned the inapplicabilità of Community Law within that port, because it is a State corporation of the Free Territory of Trieste. A State that doesn’t belong to the EU. It happened on 22 January, before the EU Parliament.
Italy’s goal is to use certain EU authorities to ultimate disruptive the International Free Port of Triste. Only, that is since long outside Italy’s sovereignty. Italian politicians want to make Trieste a docile fuel-port, and divert its routes to the Italian ports of Venice, Ancona, Ravenna, Bari, Taranto.
For the same reason, Italian politicians want to use the EU to eliminate Triste’s free zones, which are an unmatched source of competition for Italian Ports. An example? Interrogation E-006217/12 of EU parliamentarian Barbara Matera (PDL – Partito delle Libertà). [NOTE: the interrogation’s answer is HERE].
Cancelling the free zones would complete the operation with which Italy has already successfully cut the port of Trieste (FTT) and is sister port Koper-Capodistria (Slovenia) from the Baltic-Adriatic route. Not to mention Italy wants another off-shore LNG terminal in front of Koper-Capodistria. The would ultimately deactivate Slovenia’s only port.
However, despite the threat this neighbor poses to its very sovereignty, Slovenia has so far been very weak: the expected reaction, an official dispute before EU authorities, is yet to be seen.
It is worth mentioning that Region Friuli Venezia Giulia (lead by PD president Debora Serracchiani) has not yet expressed against the inclusion of Gas Natural’s LNG terminal among Community strategic project. Which is the same as approving the LNG terminal in Trieste’s international Free Port.
The press swept it all under the carpet: for instance, the President of the Slovenian Republic, Borut Pahor, has recently met Ms. Serracchiani in Ljubljana and did go as far as thanking her for “taking a stand against the LNG terminal planned in the Trieste province”.
Not to mention, Debora Serracchiani very much supports the attempt to forcefully urbanize the Northern Free Port (and calls it “Porto Vecchio” as in “old port” because of course old means useless).
Obviously, urbanizing this area goes against its legal status of international Free Port of the Free Territory of Trieste, which Italy itself recognizes and ought to respect.