WRITTEN QUESTION E-1276/02

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(6 May 2002)

Subject: Reopening of the Mont Blanc tunnel

The Commission has been consulted about the conditions for reopening the Mont Blanc tunnel to heavy goods traffic. Article 4 of the relevant regulation presupposes a maximum of 240 TIR lorries per hour passing through, equivalent to 5 760 per day. The access roads go across the Mont Blanc massif, which is considered to be part of the heritage of mankind and the world and is protected by international charters such as the Alpine Convention. The traffic which the regulation allows to go through the Mont Blanc tunnel would therefore have an impact on the areas crossed by the access roads. During the three years when the tunnel was closed since 24 March 1999 all investments were aimed at making the tunnel itself safe and no resources were invested in the environmental and human safety of the areas crossed by the access roads, except the projects to build two enormous parking areas (each for about 3 000 lorries) to help comply with the rules on the circulation of heavy goods traffic. However, these projects have not yet been completed and the parking areas will be located in Aosta (Italy) and Le Fayet (France), about 30 km from the entrance to the tunnel.

What steps will the Commission take in the immediate future to ensure that the area is protected against damage caused by heavy traffic on such a potentially large scale, in view of the fact that before the tragedy of 24 March 1999, when there were an average of 2 800 HGVs per day, the quality of the air was already under serious threat, and in order to safeguard the integrity of the Espace Mont Blanc by proposing sustainable development models capable of reconciling the needs of the inhabitants and the free movement of persons and goods in an environment universally recognised as being fragile and sensitive?

Joint answerto Written Questions P-1264/02 and E-1276/02given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2002)

The reopening of the Mont Blanc tunnel will restore a key link between France and Italy and reduce the environmental risks and pollution caused by the lorries currently diverted through the Maurienne and Susa valleys, where the local population bears the full brunt. Far stricter conditions will be imposed on traffic than those in force at the time of the tragic fire in 1999. They will provide a means of automatically limiting the number of heavy goods vehicles on the Mont Blanc route, balancing traffic more evenly between the Mont Blanc and Fréjus tunnels and improving safety.

However, this reopening is, by no means, a long-term solution, which must instead take the form of a consistent package of measures, as described in the White Paper European transport policy for 2010: time to decide(1), designed, amongst other things, to provide a lasting solution to the problem of transit traffic across the Alps.

Accordingly, the Commission considers that the absolute priority of controlling road traffic flows in the Alpine region implies greater use of more environment-friendly modes, particularly rail. This alternative depends on a number of conditions. Better targeted use of the existing railway infrastructure is, as the Honourable Member stresses, essential as a first step but will not suffice, given the current situation of the railways. They will not be able to offer a competitive alternative to intra-European road freight without substantial improvements in quality of service. This is why, at the start of this year, the Commission submitted a communication entitled Towards an integrated European railway area(2) containing a second package of proposals on rail transport to help to attain this ambitious objective.

Beyond that, looking at infrastructure, the Commission is providing both political and financial support for constructing and bringing into service as soon as possible the two trans-Alpine rail links already mentioned in the guidelines for the trans-European transport network, i.e. the Lyon-Turin and Brenner lines. With this in mind, the Commission has also proposed raising the level of funding for cross-border rail projects in such sensitive environments as the Alps(3).

In the White Paper the Commission also proposes the establishment of a new Community framework for charging for use of infrastructure in order to reflect more fully the external costs of the individual modes and to make a decisive contribution to better regulation of traffic flows across the Alps. At the same time these new rules should raise extra revenue to help fund trans-Alpine rail crossings.

The Commission also considers that greater use of transport by sea and inland waterway must be encouraged so that they, in turn, can contribute to reducing transit traffic crossing the Alps. First, however, any such shift to more environment-friendly modes will require improvements in quality of service at ports, particularly on the Mediterranean Sea. The new Marco Polo programme to support intermodal schemes must therefore contribute, amongst other things, to improving the performance of short-sea shipping in order to turn it into a credible competitor against road transport.

This package of measures is, therefore, compatible with the sustainable development strategy which the Commission considers one of its top priorities, as amply illustrated in the White Paper on transport policy.

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.

(2) COM(2002) 18 final.

(3) OJ C 75 E, 26.3.2002.