Members of local government gathered today for their June full-house assembly, a session which secured unanimous approval for an initiative urging energy supply companies on the island to ensure new and existing private facilities can divert surplus production across the network in compliance with current legislation. “Energy must be democratised”, insisted environment chief Antonio J Sanz, pointing to challenges faced by both existing and newly commissioned facilities as they try to alleviate strain on es Ca Marí plant by feeding their surplus energy into the grid”. Sanz also highlighted the measure’s snug fit with three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including affordable and non-polluting energy, responsible production and consumption and climate action.

Likewise, cross-party support meant definitive approval for an ordinance regulating the cost of local government’s involvement at, access to and exercise of activities within the power plant, as well as for temporary permits. Planning chief Rafael González said fees for new activities would be subject to a 50% reduction till year end, with the fee for title changes and simple modifications dropping 83.3%, from €1,200 to €200.

Another measure that won cross-party backing was the draft of a plan to rethink spaces and uses of buildings where the Consell provides public services. Governance chief Rafael Ramírez tied the Formentera government’s purchase and retrofitting of buildings where services are provided “to local needs and demands” and said the local administration was “clearly facing a facilities shortage”. The upshot, said Ramírez, is that “now more than ever, we need to look at how public buildings and spaces are used and adapted and outline strategies to optimise how this is done”.

Assembly members also came together to back the appointment of Lina Mayans Tur, Andreu Ferrer Juan and Javier González Granado to the island’s ethics and good governance commission. According to Ramírez, who also heads up the transparency department, “the aim of this code of ethics is twofold; first, to chart our course on a policy of integrity, and second, to set our guiding principles and standards of conduct for good governance”.

Proclamations
Finally, plenary participants unanimously adopted two official declarations. The first of these was related to World Refugee Day and presented by Rafael Ramírez, who additionally directs the social welfare office. After giving an overview of global migratory crises since the twentieth century, Ramírez insisted, “Our current situation demands a greater and more determined commitment to the defence of human rights, the right to asylum and the protection of refugees”. Assembly members agreed “to show solidarity with all refugees and denounce the systematic violation of their rights”, and to urge international institutions “to provide urgent, effective and permanent responses to the current migratory challenge”.

In a measure that was tabled by equality chief Vanessa Parellada, assembly members approved a statement to mark World LGTBI Pride Day. “Forty years have gone by since delcaration of men and women’s right to sexual self-determination”, said Parellada, “and discrimination and hate speech against LGTBI people and increasingly common fear-motived hate crimes represent a serious threat to respect for fundamental rights in the EU”. Decision-makers “strongly condemned any discrimination”, voiced “particular concern at the upsurge in hate speech” and urged “institutions and civil society to intensify efforts to disseminate best practices and build cooperation in this fight”.

25 June 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera