WRITTEN QUESTION E-1513/99

by Marie Isler Béguin (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: Extension of the harbour of Ibiza, Baleares

On 5 May last, in answer to written question E-0964/99(1) on the extension of the harbour at Ibiza, the Commission stated it was in the process of adopting a decision granting financial assistance from the Cohesion Fund for the construction of a new breakwater and access road in that harbour.

However, on 29 June last, the High Court of the Balearics (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Balears) annulled the local Planning Authority's (Comisión Insular de Urbanismo) 1994 adoption of the Special Plan for the Harbour of Ibiza. The judgment, based on an appeal by the local College of Architects, states that the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure had not complied with the requirements for public information.

Such a judgment de-legitimises this EIA procedure in the light of Directive 97/11/EC(2), Article 6.2, and of the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, submitted by the UN Economic Commission for Europe in Århus, Denmark, on 23-25 June 1998.

1. Does the Commission still intend to finance the construction of the breakwater?

2. Would the Commission not agree that the Spanish authorities have not respected Directive 97/11/EC on the Environmental Impact Assessment of projects, by not having made the procedure public? What measures does the Commission intend to take in order to review the EIA procedure?

3. Is the Commission prepared to take into consideration alternative projects to the proposal made by the Spanish Government?

(1) OJ C 370, 21.12.1999, p. 146.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(19 October 1999)

The Commission adopted on 19 April 1999 the decision granting financial assistance from the Cohesion fund to a project concerning the construction of a new breakwater and an access road in the harbour of Ibiza. This decision was adopted after verifying that the project meets the eligibility conditions and the priority criteria relating to transport infrastructure projects set out in the Council Regulation establishing the Cohesion fund(1).

This project has been submitted to an environmental impact procedure in conformity with Council Directive 85/337/CEE, of 27 June 1985, on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(2). The declaration of the environmental impact of the project was published in the Spanish official journal(3). Both procedure and declaration of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) are administrative acts different from the EIA procedure related to the special plan annulled by the High Court of Balearics.

1. Under these circumstances, the Commission considers that the project in question still meets the eligibility conditions and the priority criteria set out in the Regulation establishing the Cohesion fund.

2. According to the information available, it appears that the Spanish authorities have respected the requirements for public information. Nevertheless, the situation created by the Court's judgement is being examined in depth by the Commission.

3. During the assessment of the project, the Spanish authorities investigated alternative technical solutions. They have declared that the project in question represents the most convenient solution to the problems encountered by the harbour of Ibiza. This conclusion has been confirmed by the assessment performed by the Commission.

(1) OJ L 130, 25.5.1994.

(2) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(3) BOE No 233, 29.9.1994.