WRITTEN QUESTION E-0385/03

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 February 2003)

Subject: Building project in Elche and the Tabarca SCI (Valencian Community)

The Elche local authority has adopted an Integrated Action Programme (dated 25 March 2002) and a building scheme (dated 27 January 2003) for sector AR-1, which involves building over 3000 tourist accommodation units right next to a coastal wetland (Els Bassars-Clot de Galvany), a sand-dune system (Dunas del Carabassí), and the traditional crop growing corridor which links the wetland with the dune system, all of which are included in the Valencian Government's proposed list of sites of Community interest (SCIs) under the head Tabarca. Both the Integrated Action Programme and the building scheme were adopted without any specific environmental impact procedure being carried out in accordance with Directives 97/11/EEC(1) of 3 March 1997 and 92/43/EEC(2) of 21 May 1992.

The Else Bassars-Clot de Galvany wetlands and their surroundings are of particular importance as a bird reserve, containing over 220 species, 70 of which have nesting status, including two species in danger of extinction which appear in Annex I of Directive 79/409/EC(3) on the preservation of woodland birds: the marbled teal (Marmoronetta angustirostris) and the

white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). The impact of the building scheme in sector AR-1 on the bird population will be very serious, as a result of the massive increase in human pressure on the Els-Bassars-Clot de Galvany wetlands (over 10 000 new residents in the immediate surroundings of a wetland of only 180 hectares, which is already suffering from major urban building pressure, namely from the recently built tourist resorts on its southern border, in the neighbouring township of Santa Pola).

Can the Commission investigate whether all the parameters were duly heeded which would justify the unnecessariness of either an assessment procedure (Directive 97/11/EC) or an environmental impact study (Directive 92/43/EEC) for the building scheme in question with regard to the Els Bassars-Clot de Galvany wetlands and the Carabassi dune system (which belong to the on-shore Tabarca SCI)? How is the Commission going to ensure that the building scheme does not endanger this SCI?

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

(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

(3) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(9 April 2003)

The Commission is already aware of the situation the Honourable Member describes in her written question.

This is because it received a complaint, registered as No 2002/5164, concerning Elche's town planning programme and the scheme to build over 3 000 tourist accommodation units and a hotel within a site of Community importance without an impact assessment study having first been carried out.

The complainant reports that the said plans will seriously affect the environment and cause the destruction of the area's habitat. He claims the construction of this complex will have major adverse effects on a large number of species and habitats protected by Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

Accordingly, the Commission recently asked the Spanish authorities to comment on the situation reported by the complainant and to provide full details of the scheme.

As guardian of the Treaties, the Commission will not hesitate to take all necessary steps to ensure that Community law is complied with in this instance.