WRITTEN QUESTION E-1149/98

by Nuala Ahern (V) to the Commission

(24 April 1998)

Subject: Eastern Electricity project in Great Britain to replace the existing pylons between Norwich and Great Yarmouth in East Anglia

The Norfolk broads are internationally renowned for their wetlands and wildlife and have been designated a Ramsar site. The area is also subject to a European Union consultation process as to whether they should be given both Special Protection Area status under the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC(1)) and Conservation (SAC) status under the Habitats and Species Directive (92/43/EEC(2)).

Is it then permissible that plans are being developed to erect 23m high pylons with twice the number of cables across miles of rural countryside? Will the Commission investigate the viability of a project which fails to incorporate environmental considerations and ignores the strength of community feeling. Eastern Electricity has also failed to release financial figures which could be crucial to the formulation of a more equitable plan, for example where cables are buried underground.

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 1998)

1. An area called "Broadland", forming part of the Norfolk Broads, has been classified by the United Kingdom as a special protection area (SPA) pursuant to Article 4 of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds. An area called "The Broads" has been proposed as a special area of conservation (SAC) by the United Kingdom pursuant to Article 4(1) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. The United Kingdom has also informed the Commission that it is undertaking further consultations with a view to extending the boundaries of this proposed SAC.

2. The protection regime applying to the Broadland SPA is defined in Article 6(2), (3) and (4) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC. Accordingly, any plan or project not directly connected to the management of this site but likely to have a significant effect on it must be subject to an appropriate environmental assessment in view of the site's conservation objectives.

3. The project to which the Honourable Member refers would replace existing pylons. There is reference to the fact that the erection of 23 metre high pylons will result in twice the number of cables across miles of countryside. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the proposed development is likely to have any significant negative effect on the conservation interests for which Broadland was classified as a SPA. Therefore, the Commission does not consider from the information given by the Honourable Member that there is a basis for it to intervene in this matter which falls under national competence.

4. With respect to the impact on the environment this is usually assessed through an environmental impact assessment according to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(3). Projects concerning the transmission of electrical energy are included in Annex II to this Directive which means that an EIA is not mandatory, but is carried out when Member States consider it necessary as a result of its size, location, etc. A recent modification of this Directive by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(4) renders such an assessment mandatory as of 14 March 1999 for construction of overhead electrical power lines with a voltage of 220 kilowatt or more and a length of more than 15 kilometres. The Commission does not dispose of information on the technical characteristics of this project and related environmental assessments.

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(4) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.