Mr. Theodoros Skylakakis spoke in Parliament about the hundreds of thousands of citizens who are unfairly suffering due to the recent announcement by the Council of State, which deems provisions of the New Building Code unconstitutional and questions over 14,000 building permits.

“We have unconstitutionality that is being discovered after 12 years since the New Building Code was passed,” said the Minister of Environment and Energy, presenting the amendment that seeks to regulate the urban planning framework until the final decision from the Council of State is issued. He added at another point: “We have over 14,000 building permits that are in accordance with the New Building Code, but they have not yet called a building inspector. This does not mean that construction work hasn’t started, but the Council of State’s announcement does not define what constitutes the start of work. These people must be protected. They must be protected because behind these permits are hundreds of thousands of citizens who are legal, but due to a state mistake, they are being made illegal. This happens in a country where millions of illegalities have been legalized. Is it possible, with the legalization of millions of illegal acts, to behave vindictively toward hundreds of thousands of legal citizens? We must protect the seriousness of the State. Obviously, the government will legislate at the right time when we have the final decision from the Council of State.”

Mr. Skylakakis explained that the amendment he submitted to Parliament to “freeze” new building permits is necessary because the Council of State’s announcement has caused confusion. “The Council of State’s announcement states that unconstitutionality should cover permits for which building work has not started but does not define what ‘start of work’ means,” said the Minister, adding, “This resulted in municipalities coming out and giving their own interpretations. For example, the Municipality of Alimos equates the start of work with concrete pouring. We cannot, therefore, leave the absolute urban chaos that will occur if we allow municipalities to interpret this before the final decision of the Council of State comes out.”