΄Yes΄ for now
The “yes” to exploratory drilling merely puts the bigger confrontation off until later. For Corfu, though, the question remains: will it have a voice in decisions over oil and gas exploration in the Ionian, or will it regard the issue as beyond the remit of local government?
The decision of the Regional Council may be presented as “yes to exploration, we’ll see what happens next”, but politically it is harder to read it in such neutral terms.
The two political groups that formed the majority gave their consent to the exploratory drilling. And when you consent to the first, necessary step in a process of hydrocarbon exploration and potential exploitation, it is reasonable to consider that, in principle, you have already accepted the direction being taken. What is being deferred is the final decision, if and when Asopos-1 shows that there is something worth exploiting.
Politically, it is a prudent approach. It buys time, limits the immediate cost of making a clear-cut choice, and defers the real confrontation to a point when there will be facts rather than assumptions.
Except that the question of principle remains.
Because the question is not simply whether there is natural gas in Block 2. It is whether the region wants to become part of such an energy strategy, and under what conditions.
The decision of the Ionian Islands Regional Authority avoided leaving that question completely exposed. The “yes” came with the 17 conditions set out in the official recommendation. Consequently, the Ionian Islands’ consent is not a blank cheque. It is conditional on those terms being accepted and implemented.
And so we come to today’s meeting of the Central Corfu Municipal Council.
From a journalistic perspective, it risks repeating what has already been said at the regional level: yes or no to exploration, environmental safeguards, tourism, fishing, energy security, geopolitics and local benefits.
Unless an entirely different approach prevails: the one put forward by the mayor, namely that oil and gas exploration is not a matter for local government.
If that is indeed the position, then perhaps that is where the real discussion of the evening lies.
Because before the Municipal Council decides for or against oil and gas exploration, it must answer whether it considers that it has the right — and the responsibility — to have a say on the matter.
And that is a question of principle, before it even becomes a question of natural gas.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
