WRITTEN QUESTION E-2800/01

by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission

(9 October 2001)

Subject: Urban development on the island of Tabarca, a site of special Community interest and a special protection area for birds, in Alicante (Spain)

The island of Tabarca is proposed by Spain as a site of special Community interest and as a special protection area for birds for the future Natura 2000 Network. The reason why it has been chosen as such lies in its great wealth in flora and fauna protected by national and Community law, notably its large colonies of posidonia oceanica.

Last year, the High Court in the Community of Valencia issued an injunction ordering the building of six bungalows on the island to be suspended as a precaution in view of the way in which such building work would encroach on the shoreline and in view of the threat that this would pose to the protected enclave. Despite the negative report issued by the Spanish Ministry for the Environment regarding the new Special Plan for the Island of Tabarca, drawn up by the Municipality of Alicante and permitting the development of the shoreline, the construction work on the bungalows continues.

What measures does the Commission intend to take vis-à-vis the Spanish authorities in order to safeguard the conservation of the island of Tabarca, designated by Spain as a site of special Community interest and as a special protection area for birds for the future Natura 2000 Network.

Can the Commission supply further information on the biogeographical seminars with regard to the Mediterranean basin to which the Commission referred to in its reply to Written Question E-1253/01(1)? Can the Commission now deliver an opinion as to whether the proposals by Spain regarding the protection of the natural habitat of posidonia beds in the specific case of the Alicante coast are adequate?

(1) OJ C 340 E, 4.12.2001, p. 205.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(28 November 2001)

1. The island of Tabarca and the surrounding marine environment have very good posidonia beds on the Spanish coast. The Spanish authorities have proposed this natural area as a site of Community importance (SCI) which may eventually be integrated in the Natura 2000 network pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC(1) of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna.

The Commission has no knowledge of the project referred to by the Honourable Member and its impact on this site. The Commission's appropriate department has therefore contacted the Spanish authorities, asking them for their observations on the facts reported and to determine whether the project in question is likely to have a significant effect on the site in the light of the objectives of Directive 92/43/EEC, in which case the procedure provided for in its Article 6 should be applied.

2. As indicated in the answer to the Honourable Member's Written Question E-1253/01, the biogeographical seminars are mainly a mechanism serving as an aid to determine whether the Member States have provided complete national lists in the light of the objectives of Directive 92/43/EEC. Only after discussions have taken place at these seminars will the Commission be in a position to compile the lists of sites of Community interest that may be adopted subsequently.

As regards the Posidonia beds habitat (Posidonion oceanicae), one of the conclusions of the first seminar for the Mediterranean was that it was necessary to improve the geographical representation of this habitat by France and to add new sites in order to ensure sufficient representation by Spain. It should be noted that the second seminar for the Mediterranean biogeographical region is planned for July 2002.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.