Source: European Parliament
The Commission ensures, within the remit of its competence, the respect of fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter), including the right to property[1].
According to its Article 51(1) the provisions of the Charter are addressed to Member States only when they are implementing EU law.
In this case, it is for Member States, including their judicial authorities, to ensure that fundamental rights are effectively respected and protected in accordance with their national law and international human rights obligations.
The Commission is not responsible for monitoring the application of national laws for matters, such as property rights, which do not fall within EU competence.
Therefore, the Commission has not issued and does not plan to issue any guidelines to resolve environmental protection conflicts with property rights .
It is up to the Member States to identify and use EU co-financing, provided that the eligibility and selection criteria of any relevant EU programmes or funding tools are fulfilled. Cohesion Policy[2], through projects co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund[3], provides tools that can contribute to addressing challenges related to forest maps and property management in Greece[4].
In line with this, Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Plan[5] includes a reform to finalise the national cadastre, establishing an efficient land registry system and providing legal certainty for property rights (measure 16986). By mid-2025, the cadastral mapping is expected to be completed, with all property rights available for public display.
- [1] Article17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
- [2] https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/what/investment-policy_en
- [3] https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funding/erdf_en
- [4] For instance, the project Development of an Integrated Information System for the Central Geospatial Infrastructure (ERDF co-financing: EUR 0.6 million) focuses on creating a comprehensive geospatial information system to manage grazing lands, immovable property, and agricultural registers, supporting improved land and forest management. Similarly, the project Digitization of the Historic Archive of Aerial Photographs (ERDF co-financing: EUR 3.3 million) involves preserving and digitizing aerial photographs to create a Geographic Information System (GIS), which will contribute to documenting forest and land boundaries, improving transparency, and supporting sustainable land management efforts.
- [5] https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility/country-pages/greeces-recovery-and-resilience-plan_en