WRITTEN QUESTION E-1693/01

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Coastline of Gallipoli and the island of Sant'Andrea

The Italian Government has authorised - even granting funding via the Sviluppo Italia scheme (at least according to press reports) - projects to build holiday homes on the coastline of Gallipoli and the island of Sant'Andrea (Apulia, Italy).

This is all the more serious in view of the fact that the area has been classified as a site of Community interest, under the code number COD IT 9150015, and therefore an area subject to special environmental protection.

Is the Commission willing to take swift action to ascertain the compatibility of these buildings with the needs of environmental protection?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992, on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(1), provides for protection requirements with reference to Special Conservation Areas (SCA). Under Article 4, paragraph 5, of Directive 92/43/EEC these requirements are applied also to Sites of Community Importance (SCI) when, on the basis of the list of proposed Sites of Community Importance (pSCI), they are adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 4, paragraph 2. At present, SCA have not yet been designated and the list of the SCI, has not been adopted yet. However, with reference to proposed Sites of Community Importance, in particular when including priority habitat and species, Member States have certain obligations to act in a way so as to ensure that the aims of the Directive are not jeopardised. Even in the absence of a Community list, Member States are advised to at least abstain from all activities that may cause a proposed site to deteriorate.

On the basis of the information given by the Honourable Member, the site chosen for the tourist complex appears to fall within the proposed Site of Community Importance IT9150015. However, the characteristics of the project and the effects of it on the site have not been described.

Directive 92/43/EEC does not prohibit the construction of tourist complexes in natural protected areas. It makes the consent for projects likely to have significant effects on SCA the subject of the regime provided for by the Directive. No element or circumstance is given which can be considered as a breach of this regime. The simple fact that a proposed tourist complex is granted a consent is not in itself a breach of the Directive.

Therefore, in the light of the above, no possible breach of the Directive 92/43/EEC can be identified.

The project mentioned by the Honourable Member could be a project of Annex II 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(2), as modified by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997(3) (hereafter: EIA Directive). According to the EIA Directive, Member States are obliged 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. Projects covered by the Directive are identified in the annexes. For projects listed in Annex II, the Directive provides that Member States shall determine through a case-by-case examination, or thresholds or criteria, whether the project is to be made subject to an assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10.

However, on the basis of the information given by the Honourable Member, no circumstance is identified which can be considered as a breach of the Directive. The simple fact that a project for a tourist complex is granted a consent is not in itself a breach of the Directive. The EIA Directive does not prohibit the construction of tourist complexes. It makes the consent for these projects the subject of the regime provided for by the EIA Directive.

Therefore, in the light of the above, no possible breach of Directive 85/337/EEC, as modified, can be identified at present.

In any event, the Commission informs the Honourable Member that the Commission had already opened a complaint file on the project mentioned, on the basis of a letter of complaint. The complaint is under assessment. Should the Commission verify relevant evidence that Community law is being breached in the specific case, it would not hesitate, as the guardian of the EC Treaty, to take all necessary measures, including infringement procedures under Article 226 (ex Article 169) of the EC Treaty, in order to ensure the observance of relevant Community law.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(3) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.