WRITTEN QUESTION E-1694/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(12 June 2002)

Subject: Decision to route the proposed Via Baltica motorway in north-east Poland through the Biebrza wetlands and the resulting serious damage to the environment

1. Can the Commission confirm that, as part of the TINA process designed to open up road transport in the applicant countries, a four-lane

motorway Via Baltica is being planned, in which connection EU funds have now been invested in Lithuania and Latvia, and that the latest route proposed for the Via Baltica in north-east Poland passes through the national park containing the Biebrza wetlands, which provide a habitat for a range of fauna unique in Europe (bears, wolves, lynxes, storks, cranes, eagles and beavers), cutting off this area from the ancient forests of Augustowka and Knyszynska?

2. Is it true that there was broad support for the original route of the Via Baltica in Poland on the grounds that the motorway was supposed to pass to the west of the national park, but that the previous Polish Government pushed through a new, environmentally damaging, route via Bialystok and that the current Polish Government fears that that route can no longer be changed without forfeiting vital financial contributions from the EU?

3. Has a procedure now been initiated whereby the area to be traversed by the Via Baltica would lose its status as a protected area prior to its deserved inclusion on the Natura 2000 list?

4. Is the Commission prepared, in conjunction with the Polish Government and, if necessary, non-governmental organisations, to seek solutions consistent with the established EU rules on the protection of biodiversity, nature, the environment and the landscape and to make it clear to the Polish Government that a change to the current plans would in no way be at odds with EU policy, but would in fact be entirely compatible with that policy?

Joint answerto Written Questions P-1648/02 and E-1694/02given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(2 July 2002)

The transport infrastructure needs assessment (TINA) is a network which was designed in 1999. This network currently forms a base for the technical adaptation for Decision No 1692/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 which establishes the Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network(1). Via Baltica is the road Corridor I which is a part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor concept. Occasionally the TINA network and the Corridor network overlap, which is the case with the section from Warszaw-Bialystok-Lithuanian border. This road (which is already existing) runs through the national park de Biebrza.

As far as Community financing is concerned, the Commission wishes to underline that no PHARE or ISPA funding has been provided for the construction of the Via Baltica across the National Park of Biebrza in Poland. Furthermore, such a project does not feature in neither the ISPA nor the PHARE project pipeline.

While Community legislation will, from a legal point of view, only apply in the candidate countries from accession onwards, the Commission strongly encourages the candidate countries to apply and implement the provisions of the environmental acquis during the pre-accession period, notably the Natura 2000 network. This network will also be extended towards the new Member States, including Poland, after accession. As the Honourable Member is aware, Community nature protection legislation ensures proper consideration of alternatives of such types of transport projects in case an area out of the Natura 2000 network will be affected.

In cases where Community pre-accession funding is involved, the Commission sets similar standards as those set by Community environmental legislation. These need to be complied with before any Community funding can be granted for a potential project. This involves, inter alia, the application of Council Directive 97/11/EC(2). In addition, the applicant country will also have to investigate whether environmentally sensitive areas are affected which might fall in future under the protection of the Habitats(3) or the Birds(4) Directives.

The provisions of Article 6 of the Habitats Directive ensures that negative environmental impacts on sensitive areas are taken into consideration in case plans or projects are likely to have effect on those areas. By definition environmentally sensitive areas in the field of nature should be sites which have been identified by the competent national authorities as sites to be designated or, in the case of Poland, proposed for the Natura 2000 network as laid down in the Birds and Habitats Directive.

At present, Poland has not yet determined a final list of such sites.

Therefore, the Commission considers the following types of sites as being environmentally sensitive areas in the field of nature protection:

(a) sites listed in the latest inventory on Important Bird Areas (IBA) for candidate countries and if available, equivalent more detailed scientific inventories endorsed by national authorities;

(b) wetlands of international importance designated under Ramsar Convention or qualifying for such protection;

(c) areas to which the Bern Convention on the conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Article 4) applies, in particular sites meeting the criteria of the Emerald network;

(d) areas protected under national nature conservation legislation.

On the basis of this position, the Commission considers that Poland should, for all its transport infrastructure projects, including Via Baltica, align with the principles and procedures of Community directives, including the Habitat and Birds Directives, in order to minimise the impact on any site that falls under one of the above mentioned categories, Poland should also ensure that a proper environmental impact assessment is carried out in line with the requirements of Council Directive 97/11 EC.

(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996.

(2) Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(3) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(4) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.