Law 7/2024 of 11 December on urgent measures for administrative simplification and rationalisation of the public administration of the Balearic Islands
Published on 21st Feb 2025
We analyse the main novelties introduced by this regulation and its impact on administrative efficiency in the energy sector and environmental assessment.
The Government of the Balearic Islands, in compliance with the mandate of the European regulator, continues with its policy of eliminating obstacles for citizens and economic operators in their relations with the administration. Law 7/2024, of 11 December, on Urgent Measures for Administrative Simplification and Rationalisation of the Public Administrations of the Balearic Islands, takes up the baton from the homonymous - and repealed - Decree-Law 3/2024, of 24 May, to tackle this challenge from a threefold perspective: administrative simplification, document simplification and regulatory simplification.
Energy projections
According to the new regulation, the transmission and distribution facilities of electricity, along with charging stations for electric vehicles with a power of more than 250 kW (and power equal to or greater than 50 kW in Formentera), may apply for recognition of public utility, for the the purposes of the declaration of general interest contained in paragraph 2 of Article 24 of Law 6/1997 of 8 July, on the Rustic Land of the Balearic Islands. In these cases, no compensatory benefit (prestación compensatoria) may be demanded for the uses and exceptional developments listed in Article 17 of Law 6/1997.
New measures are introduced to encourage the deploymentof the electric vehicle recharging: their location is permitted in residential or equipment areas and on common rural land (provided that it is not expressly prohibited by the corresponding island territorial plan). Similarly, all recharging points, whether publicly or privately owned, with public access, are considered to have a public service function, for the purposes of the direct granting of municipal concessions for the occupation of public domain space. In this sense, electric vehicle charging point infrastructure with public access is considered to be that which is located on public roads or which is otherwise accessible to all electric vehicle users, such as public and private car parks, service stations or shopping centres. The owners of these public infrastructures registered before 1 October 2024 must communicate, telematically and before 1 April 2025, to the General Directorate responsible for energy the information established by state and regional regulations.
Parking spaces in new publicly and privately owned, surface car parks on urban land that occupy a total area of more than 1,000 square metres will be covered with photovoltaic panels for the self-consumption of the car park facilities and associated installations
In line with the above, the new regulation seeks to boost the penetration of renewables in the Balearic Islands with a package of measures of various kinds: administrative procedures are streamlined by exempting the following from obtaining prior administrative authorisation and construction permits: (i) electricity generation facilities using isolated renewable energies; (ii) self-consumption facilities without surpluses; (iii) production facilities connected to the grid with surpluses (we understand that the legislator is also referring here to self-consumption facilities) and (iv) for small power production facilities which, due to their characteristics, are determined by the Balearic Energy Sector Master Plan.
On the other hand, in new urban developments subject to territorial planning instruments (i.e., sectorial master plans, island territorial plans and municipal planning instruments, as well as any other plan subject to strategic environmental assessment), an area of land will be reserved in the municipality for renewable energy generation. Likewise, the project for new buildings associated with new urban developments will include the electrical pre-installation of a collective self-consumption installation, including cabinets for metering equipment.
As part of the incentive for citizen participation in the development and management of renewable energy systems, a new definition of renewable generation projects with local participation is introduced: those in which it is proven that at least 20% of the ownership of the project or its financing has been offered to natural or legal persons, public or private, from the municipality in which the installation is to be located and neighbouring municipalities.
Abolition of the Commission for the Environment of the Balearic Islands (CMAIB)
The elimination of the Environmental Commission of the Balearic Islands, whose competences will be assumed by the General Directorate to be determined organically, in accordance with Article 9 of the Consolidated Text of the Environmental Assessment Law of the Balearic Islands, is endorsed. This abolition came into effect on 29 May 2024, having been introduced by Decree-Law 3/2024 of 24 May.
With regard to environmental assessment procedures initiated before that date, a transitional regime is established which stipulates that they will be resolved by the competent General Directorate without the need for the opinion of the technical committees.
Special attention to those projects subject to Environmental Impact Assessment that are in the process of being processed
The Government of the Balearic Islands, aware of the delays in the administrative processing faced by many energy projects, is giving them a shot in the arm: it is introducing a new period of validity for environmental impact statements and reports of 6 years, starting from their publication in the regional gazette, which can be extended to 9 years. In addition, in cases in which it has not been possible to start the execution of the project or activity on time due to the lack of any of the legally required authorisations, for reasons not attributable to the promoter, a new extension may be granted for a period of two years, with the prior request of the promoter to the environmental body and accrediting the concurrent circumstances.
If, in spite of everything, the environmental impact statement or report ends up losing its validity and ceasing to have any effects, the developer may restart the environmental assessment procedure for the project. In this case, the environmental body, either ex officio or at the request of the developer, shall decide to maintain the acts and procedures whose content would have remained the same if the environmental impact statement or report had not expired.
Should you wish to know more about Law 7/2024 on urgent administrative simplification and rationalisation measures or any other energy issues, please do not hesitate to contact one of our experts listed below or your usual contact at Osborne Clarke.
