Here we go,
Just when you start seeing some encouraging news.........................................
The spokesperson for the Regional PSOE Party, Begona Garcia Retegui , has expressed the parties' concerns that the ruling PP administration has breached EU rules in the guarantees it made to enable the airport consortium to borrow the 200 million euros required to complete construction at Corvera Airport.She states that their legislative experts have examined the manner in which the financing was obtained and that the PP have acted inappropriately. On the 29th January the Regional Executive announced that the approval of guarantees for the loan had been reached at a meeting of the Governing Council and that the building works were now assured. Not a word was said about the approval required from Brussels, which could now throw a complete spanner in the works if it is ruled that the guarantees made by the regional government constitute state aid for what is essentially, a private enterprise. Brussels must determine whether the guarantee complies with the EU State Aid rules, and although Jose Ballesta, the Minister for Infrastructure is keen to assure the media that the guarantee is completely legitimate, and formalisation of the regional guarantee is a mere bureaucratic formality, the question of doubt raised by the PP is challenging the advisability of having made formal announcements about the future of the project before the rubber stamping was out of the way.
Should Brussels rule that the guarantee is illegal, the whole project could be frozen yet again, whilst the financing is invalidated.
Since the announcements were made by the regional government that it would guarantee the loans required by the construction consortium, financing to the tune of 200, 000,000 euros was released to keep the construction work going, and the regional government has authorized the expenditure of many more millions of euros on the creation of regional infrastructure required for the airport to open. New roads are now under construction and access roads from Fuente Alamo and the existing motorway networks have already been conditioned and surfaced. It will take about 6 weeks before Brussels rule on the legality of the financing guarantees, and lack of agreements may cast doubts over whether the region is a suitable location for the Paramount Studios Disneyland theme park which is currently in the provisional stages of feasibility studies.
So don't book your tickets just yet.
Another six weeks on tenderhooks. We just love Brussels don't we.
Regards,