The European Commission has decided that Portugal’s government has complied with Community rules in the Aljezur oil test well process and that it is up to the government to decide whether there should be an environmental impact assessment.
"The Commission has no reason to consider that the procedure to waive the environmental impact assessment for the Aljezur test well was not in accordance with Directive 2011/92 / EU", which deals with oil exploration and extraction activities.
Getting down to the detail in the rules that cover the oil industry, the Directive states that oil extraction activities need an environmental impact assessment, but for exploration and test drilling, it is for the Member State to determine whether it is necessary to carry out an environmental impact assessment.
There is a warning that an impact statement is needed when a project is likely to have significant effects on the environment.
The response from the Environment Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, to a question from the Portuguese MEP, Marisa Matias, concerning the planned Galp-ENI test well in the sea off the Aljezur coast, will not please anti-oil campaign organisations which even now are consulting their lawyers.
The government has a huge advantage as it is the pro-oil government that decides, on a case by case basis, whether a test well needs an environmental impact assessment, or not.
In Portugal’s case, with the government executive and various State departments, working hand in hand, it is unlikely that one will break ranks and call for an assessment.
The verification procedure, "carried out by the competent Portuguese authorities, which also carried out a risk analysis, concluded that the operations are not likely to have significant effects," points out the European Commissioner.
Exploration activities off Aljezur, "will not use hydraulic fracturing methods (fracking), are scheduled to run in a corridor used by sea traffic 50 kilometers from the coast and do not interfere with any protected area," stated Vella.
The Left Bloc’s MEP, Marisa Matias, wanted to know whether the European Commission considers the process flawed and also asked what measures will be taken to protect people and the environment.
The Commissioner replied that "if specific oil drilling activities ... are envisaged, a prior environmental impact assessment will be necessary."
The Left Bloc pointed out that in 2016, more than 42,000 citizens protested against Galp-ENI’s oil exploration plans, with only four in favor. "All the municipalities of the Algarve and south-west Alentejo reject oil exploration, the Assembly of the Republic voted in favour of the suspension of the oil drilling process, but the Government renewed the authorisation for the exploration top go ahead."
The Portuguese Environmental Agency said an environmental impact assessment was not needed as, "no significant negative impacts were identified."
This statement, for Marisa Matias, was, "inconceivable at a time when the fight against climate change and global warming should be given priority and when the Portuguese Government itself has made commitments to this effect."
For the MEP, opposition parties in parliament, environmentalists, local Councils and for a large part of the population of the Algarve, "the existence of a well and an oil platform not only poses serious risks for the coastal region, the ecosystem, the environment and the economic activities of the region, it also promotes an energy option that puts the planet at risk."
In mid-May, the Environment Minister, João Matos Fernandes, justified to parliament the decision that an environmental impact assessment was unnecessary, saying the decision was technical and not political, complies with the law and that of the nine entities in the six ministries that advised on the decision, none argued that there was a need to carry out the environmental impact assessment – not that these opinions have ever been published.
