WRITTEN QUESTION E-3538/98

by Pedro Marset Campos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(25 November 1998)

Subject: Siting of a solid urban waste treatment plant in Albudeite (Murcia, Spain)

The general meeting of the Murcian Regional Solid Urban Waste Consortium has decided that the future solid urban waste treatment plant should be built on a site 5 km from Albudeite town centre.

Public disquiet has been mounting because, apart from the fact that the decision on the plant site was taken without conducting the mandatory environmental impact assessment, the most essential information was withheld from Albudeite Municipal Council until the exact moment when it bowed to the wishes of the consortium. The reason why a meeting was held without prior notice just seven days before the deadline was due to expire, without allowing sufficient time for the municipal councils concerned to consider the suitability of the chosen site, was that the developers were anxious to obtain POMAL subsidies.

Bearing in mind that the plant could adversely affect economic development in Albudeite, where the economy is based primarily on agriculture:

1. Is the Commission aware of the situation?

2. Does it not believe that the actions of the developers have infringed Directive 90/313/EEC on the freedom of access to information on the environment(1)?

3. What steps will the Commission take in this particular instance to ensure proper compliance with Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(2)?

4. Does not the Commission consider itself obliged to insist that the consortium establish the necessary separation between the hurried decision on the plant site and the award of the corresponding POMAL subsidies by carrying out the appropriate environmental impact assessment and examining any proposals which other municipal councils might put forward?

5. Could the Commission request the authorities involved to supply more detailed information about the substance of the project, to enable the councils concerned to take such decisions as they might deem necessary to protect their legitimate interests?

Answer give by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(7 January 1999)

1. The Commission is not aware of the facts set out by the Honorary Member. However, it confirms that provision has been made for cofinancing the project concerned under the "Medio Ambiente Local" (POMAL) operational programme.

2. Article 3 of Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment(3) provides that public authorities are required to make available information relating to the environment to any natural or legal person at his request and without his having to prove an interest. Purely on the basis of the facts presented in the written question, the Commission is not in a position to ascertain whether the Spanish authorities received a request for access to information to which they responded inappropriately.

3. and 4. The Commission has asked the Spanish authorities for information on the facts denounced by the Honourable Member.

5. As indicated in paragraph 2 above, any natural or legal person may, under Directive 90/313/EEC, request a public authority to be given access to information on the environment. The public authority must respond to the person requesting information as soon as possible and at the latest within two months.

(1) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.

(2) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

(3) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990.