WRITTEN QUESTION E-3557/96 by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL), María Sornosa Martínez (GUE/NGL) and Abdelkader Mohamed Ali (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (12 December 1996)

Subject: Urban planning projects in the region of Doñana (Spain)

There have been alarming reports in the Spanish media of urban planning projects in the region of the Doñana National Park.

The Regional Executive of the Regional Government of Andalusia has approved the revision of the territorial coordination steering plan for the Doñana region (TCSP) so as to exclude the Cadiz municipalities of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Trebujena. This revision spells the start of a process of declassifying the protected areas of Doñana and allowing urban planning projects in the region of the National Park.

Given that the exclusion of the above-mentioned municipalities from the TCSP may lead to the loss of EU funds earmarked for investment and economic activities in the Doñana National Park region:

Is the Commission aware that such projects may jeopardize the ecological balance of Europe's most important nature reserve?

What is the Commission's assessment of the results of the investments made by the EU to date under the Sustainable Development Plan for the Doñana region?

Can the Commission draw up a report on the projects which have benefited from these investments?

With a view to ensuring that the projects can have no adverse effect on the Doñana National Park, what representations does the Commission intend to make to the Regional Government of Andalusia, pursuant to Community environmental legislation, to guarantee the conservation of this area of considerable environmental and ecological value?

Supplementary answer by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (18 April 1997)

Further to its answer of 15 January 1997 ((OJ C 83, 14.3.1997. )), the Commission is now in a position to communicate the following information.

The Commission has learned that the regional authorities in Andalusia approved an amendment to the 'Plan director territorial de coordinación de Doñana' in Decree No 472/96 of 22 October 1996, which removes the municipalities of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Trebujena from the coverage of the plan.

The Commission would like to stress that these municipalities are not part of the area covered by the operational programme 'Doñana II' approved by the Commission in Decision C(94) 3449 of 6 December 1994.

The Commission would also like to point out that responsibility for town and country planning and regional planning falls to the national authorities. However, the Commission is concerned about the effect that any administrative modifications in surrounding areas could have on the benefits of this programme and asked at the last monitoring committee meeting for a detailed report by the end of March on the progress of the programme and on the consequences that any modification of this kind might have. In view of the ecological importance of the park and the surrounding areas, the Commission will be stressing to the competent authorities within the Andalusian 'Junta' both the need to be particularly vigilant in this connection and the requirement to comply with national and Community legislation on the environment.

The Commission would like to add, too, that the removal of the above municipalities does not necessarily exclude them from receiving other regional development assistance.

At the request of the Commission, the Spanish authorities are currently carrying out an evaluation of this form of assistance on the basis of specifications drawn up jointly by the Commission and the government departments concerned. This evaluation will be available to the Commission towards the end of June this year, when it will be possible to give a complete opinion on the implementation of this programme and in particularly the projects which the Commission is part-financing.