WRITTEN QUESTION E-1818/02

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 June 2002)

Subject: Stage reached in the ratification of the Alpine Convention

Following the signing of the Convention on the protection of the Alps, its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities(1) and its entry into force on 14 April 1998, the individual protocols must now be ratified.

How many and which protocols have been signed by the Commission?

If only a few or even none of the protocols have been ratified, can the Commission give reasons for this?

Which protocols have not been approved?

In which official Union languages are the Convention and the additional protocols available?

Can the Commission give precise details of the stage reached in the ratification of the Convention by the individual Member States?

Are negotiations being conducted on the drafting and signing of further protocols?

(1) OJ L 61, 12.3.1996, p. 31-36.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2002)

The European Community signed the Protocols on Town and Country Planning and Sustainable Development, the Protocol on Mountain Farming and the Protocol on Conservation of Nature and Landscape, in December 1994. On 16 January 2001 the Commission approved a proposal to the Council to sign the Protocol on Transport, which is still pending. The Commission has not proposed the ratification of any of the existing Protocols to the Alpine Convention.

Commission involvement in the Alpine Convention has been limited and the Commission has not attended any meetings on the Alpine Convention in the last few years, due to the need of the Commission to focus its limited resources. However, the Commission is currently exploring options to resume involvement in the work of the Alpine Convention.

The Commission has been contributing to the promotion of the sustainable development of the Alpine region through existing EC policies. In its second Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, the Commission underlined that mountain regions are at a disadvantage and have, as such, been included, with other areas with severe geographical or natural handicap, as one of ten priorities in the future Community's cohesion policy. A number of Community policies, inter alia agricultural policy, regional policy and environment policy, are contributing to the sustainable development of mountain regions, including the Alpine region, and contribute to the conservation of mountain eco-systems bio-diversity as well as its economic and social fabric.

The text of the Alpine Convention has been published in the Official Journal(1) and has been, therefore, translated into all EU official languages. The Protocols are only available in the official languages of the Convention (French, German, Italian and Slovenian).

The Convention has been ratified by, Austria on 19.04.94, Germany on 16.06.94, France on 30.11.95 and Italy on 28.09.99.

A working party on Population and Culture has recently been established to analyse the added value and the urgency of drafting a Protocol on Population and Culture. The first meeting took place on 23-24 April 2002 and this working party will draft a provisional report for the 7th Alpine Conference on 19-20 November 2002.

(1) OJ L 61, 12.3.1996.