RUI MINDERICO/LUSA
River Sado flooded the riverside area due to bad weather, in Alcácer do Sal
The executive’s proposal intends to speed up or temporarily suspend democratic procedures that could prevent or delay reconstruction works in municipalities experiencing calamity.
The Government delivered a bill to the Assembly of the Republic that creates a “exceptional and temporary legal regime of administrative, financial and operational simplification” to accelerate the reconstruction of areas affected by the storms of the last three weeks.
The diploma applies to the approximately 70 municipalities covered by the declaration of a calamity situation and provides for a wide range of derogations from the usual rules, including the exemption from prior visa from the Court of Auditors for all contracts and works carried out under this regime.
The executive requests that Parliament assign priority and urgency to the assessment of the proposal, arguing that it is necessary to remove procedural constraints and reduce deadlines to ensure a quick response in reconstruction.
Among the measures envisaged is the possibility of “very urgent expropriations” of properties considered essential for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and equipment in the affected areas. As explained by , these expropriations will have to be initiated within a month after the law comes into force, ensuring the subsequent determination of fair compensation.
The diploma also makes rules more flexible in the field of cultural heritage, with interventions in properties that are about to be listed. to leave needing prior opinionsimply communicating the start of work.
Works on private portions of beds or banks of public and private waters are also subject to depend only on prior communicationand can start 10 days later. The occupation of public spaces for the installation of patios and scaffolding is, as a rule, exempt from authorization.
At an environmental level, the felling of trees in municipal or State spaces no longer requires formalities, including in the case of protected speciesas long as it is carried out by civil protection services. The municipalities will, however, have to update the tree inventory with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests by the end of the year.
To prevent abuse, the Government proposes the 25% increase in fines and penalties applicable to false declarations and falsification of documents. Prior inspection by the Court of Auditors is suspended, but the possibility of concomitant and successive control and the investigation of financial responsibilities remains.
