WRITTEN QUESTION E-0987/02

by Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 April 2002)

Subject: Follow-up regulation to Regulation No 3528/86 on the protection of forests against atmospheric pollution

1. What concrete strategy is the Commission pursuing in order to expand the existing aim of the Regulation (protecting forests against atmospheric pollution) to include biodiversity and climate protection?

2. Has the Commission considered whether the selection of sites already undertaken will make such a new target possible?

3. How will the Commission ensure that the extensive data base and large number of assessments are coordinated so as to ensure that the fullest possible account is taken of quality aspects, data management and the cost-effectiveness ratio?

4. What measures will the Commission take to ensure the continuation of existing cooperation with the UN/ECEs ICP Forests?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 2002)

Following the success of the Council Regulations which expire at the end of this year on the protection of the Community's forests against atmospheric pollution(1) and against fire(2), the Commission is planning a new Community action to monitor woodland and its interaction with the environment to take effect from 2003. The Commission intends to present the Parliament and the Council with a proposal for a new Framework Regulation, covering both forest monitoring and the fire information system, at the end of June 2002.

The aim of the new action will be to go beyond protecting forests from atmospheric pollution to include more detailed assessment of the health of forest ecosystems and the factors influencing it.

Monitoring activities will gradually be adapted and developed to ensure the continuity of data collection over time and the achievement of the new goals. Data collection methods and networks will also be reviewed. Studies will be carried out as a basis for proposals for optimising and developing monitoring activities. Consideration will be given to biodiversity and climate protection.

The action will have to be centrally coordinated due to the increasing demand for a flexible monitoring programme and the need for integrated data assessment. No specific comments on this can be made at present, however, as the details of who will take care of the technical and scientific aspects of the new action have yet to be decided.

The Member States and the EU have entered into obligations under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (UN/ECE). Since 1986, therefore, the International Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems (ICP Forests) and the EU have been working together to ascertain forest health. Efforts should be therefore be made to ensure that cooperation with ICP Forests continues under the new action, particularly in the field of atmospheric pollution.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 of 17 November 1986 on the protection of the Community's forests against atmospheric pollution, OJ L 326, 21.11.1986.

(2) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 of 23 July 1992 on protection of the Community's forests against fire, OJ L 217, 31.7.1992.