WRITTEN QUESTION E-0184/03

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(31 January 2003)

Subject: Construction of a technical road project (bridge) in the Herakleion-Knossos area

Inhabitants of the Herakleion region have complained about a bridge under construction along the historic route linking Herakleion to Knossos: it blatantly disregards the historic importance of this route, is extremely expensive, is of little value from the traffic point of view and is based on an arbitrary decision, since it is not mentioned in Law 2947/01 on Olympic Games projects and has not been approved by the competent directorate of the Ministry of the Environment, Regional Planning and Public Works, the Directorate for Road Construction Projects and Studies.

Bearing in mind the above and the protests of the local bodies and inhabitants, will the Commission say:

1. Is the construction of this project in line with Community legislation on viability and sustainable traffic planning in urban environments?

2. What measures does it intend to take should it find that the above project is illegal and arbitrary and that there is a readily available alternative which would meet the traffic, urban planning, functional, aesthetic, environmental and cultural needs of the region?

3. Is this project receiving Community funding? If so, have the functionality and necessary viability of the project been established?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(4 March 2003)

Construction of the viaduct along the route linking Herakleion to Knossos in Crete, to which the Honourable Member refers, is not being part-financed by Community Funds.

Nevertheless certain infrastructure projects, whether or not part-financed by Community Funds, must satisfy the requirements of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(1), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997(2), as regards drawing up an environmental impact study.

Article 2(1) of that Directive stipulates Member States shall adopt all measures necessary to ensure that, before consent is given, projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject to a requirement for development consent and an assessment with regard to their effects. These projects are defined in Article 4, which refers to Annexes I and II of the Directive. However, projects to construct viaducts are not expressly listed in any of the Annexes to the Directive.

The Commission therefore considers, on the basis of the information supplied by the Honourable Member, that Directive 85/337/EEC is not applicable.

However, if the viaduct could be regarded as forming part of a road or railway, which are listed in Annex II.10.e to the Directive, it is possible that Greek legislation requires the project to undergo an environmental impact assessment procedure. If the Honourable Member knows of any factors which might show there to be an infringement, the Commission would ask him to supply all the relevant information so that it can examine whether the project fully complies with the requirements deriving from Directive 85/337/EEC.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.