R10 A2: Barcelona vs Lobbies — Stop Lawfare, Protect Our Right to The City

During the last years, the political landscape in many institutions at different
levels has changed, bringing the option of developing and putting forward real
progressive, transformative and green policies. The possibilities, limits and
potentialities of progressive and green organisations in government, including
compromising or keeping the relations with social movements, has been triggering
a great debate within the Green Family. We consider that being able to bring
real ambition and being brave in policy-making is something to celebrate, and we
should make the best of the trust that electors put on our proposals. Political
parties and organisations thrive with the development of political and
ideological debates in the context of policy-making and the creation of
proposals, and we also welcome these experiences in the context of legislative
chambers at all levels and other cross-party spaces. Sadly, we have witnessed
how trying to start certain debates or implement specific policies which
challenge the status-quo has prompted the reaction of elite groups that hold
lots of economic and social power. These groups do not have anything to do with
democratic representation of the people: big corporations that make profit of
people’s rights, seeing that their privileges are at risk, are (mis)using legal
tools with the aims of political thuggery and damaging the image of the
institutions and trying to put an end to the policies and legal frames that
protect the rights of the citizens.

These practices, called lawfare, are persistently being used by big corporations
that make profit of basic rights, such as housing, access to water and breathing
clear air, in Barcelona as a response to the proposals of the progressive and
green local government of the city. Once the institutions started tackling the
privileges of big private corporations and putting forward a set of proposals in
line with the general interest and the right to the city, those lobbies started
legal procedures against the government of the city as political weapons. This
follows a clear agenda of trying to stop the public servants from fulfilling
their commitments. During the last seven years, the members of the local
government of Barcelona received 11 lawsuits, and 10 of them have already been
dismissed.

All these lawsuits are always being put forward by legal entities that are
closely related to real estate corporations, vulture funds, the multinational
company in charge of the management of the water of the city, but also the
automotive sector and the tourism lobby. During the last two mandates, Barcelona
has been a leader in developing policies that contribute to achieving the right
to the city: housing policies and putting an end to the privatisation of the
water to manage it as a common good. Also, green policies have been implemented
to reduce the air and noise pollution due to cars, foster the use of public
transport and active mobility (walking and biking) and increase the healthy and
green areas in the city. In this sense, mass media, in general not independent
from these economic powers, is also joining this campaign of delegitimation.
Traditional media and online pamphlets are spreading fake news and feeding the
anti-political narrative, puting at the same level politicians facing charges
for corruption with this legal abuse.

With this resolution, the Federation of Young European Greens:

• Welcome the brave proposals put forward by Barcelona en Comú at the
  Barcelona City Council government for the past 7 years

• Endorse the whole organisation in the upcomong 2023 municipal elections.

• Show its solidarity with Mayor Ada Colau and the Barcelona en Comú
  councilors in the local government, who are being victims of this
  prosecution solely for prioritising the rights of Barcelonians

• Urge the corresponding institutions to put an end to the privilege of big
  corporations that are making profit of our rights, including housing,
  water supply, and healthy cities, and stop them from employing lawfare
  schemes against political parties and organisations which are developing
  progressive policies to move forward into equal access to the right to the
  city

  
  

• Calls for initiatives on both national and European levels to enact legislation limiting the maximum amount of money that can be spent on lobbying by individuals or (corporate) organisations, eventually with a ban on corporate lobbying, and the facilitation of lobbying by and consultation of civil society organisations and academia.