WRITTEN QUESTION E-1737/99

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(1 October 1999)

Subject: Solid municipal waste management project in Galicia and Vilaboa transfer centre

For the 1997-1999 period the Sogama project(1) for the management of solid municipal waste in Galicia was allocated ECU 155 238 273, 54,88 % of which would come from public funds (the Cohesion Fund's share being 85 %) and 45,12 % from the private sector. In the description of the project, particular emphasis is placed on minimising, re-using and recycling waste, but the project is in practice basically geared to incineration, a procedure to which most of the funding has been allocated. The Sogama project will lead to an increase in the amount of waste generated and does not include other public projects in Galicia which are based on minimisation, recovery and recycling.

Furthermore, the Vilaboa transfer centre, which did not form part of the original project, will have to be sited in a valley which is highly suited to human habitation and which has been selected by the governing party in Galicia solely for political reasons. This will place an excessive material and environmental burden on the Vilaboa local authorities since the transfer centre will also serve towns and cities such as Vigo and Pontevedra.

What is the Commission intending to do to prevent the Sogama project from being implemented under such conditions and to prevent the Vilaboa transfer centre from being set up?

(1) OJ C 244, 27.8.1999, p. 11.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 1999)

Financed by the Cohesion Fund and more commonly referred to as the Sogama Project, Project 97/11/61/047 forms part of the plan for managing solid urban waste in Galicia which seeks to bring about a long-term improvement in the region's deficiencies in this area. In order to achieve the plan's specific goals, the Regional Government has devised a programme to minimise, re-use and recycle solid waste, supplemented by measures to enhance public awareness.

The Sogama Project thus provides for the construction of a series of complex installations, which it would be difficult to carry through without the Community's financial contribution. The other measures planned to achieve the objectives of the overall plan will be implemented by the national authorities, which are also responsible for incorporating any project or initiative that may contribute towards completion of the plan. However, the Commission has made any financial payment subject to the presentation by those responsible for the project of periodical reports on overall progress.

The Vilaboa transfer station in particular, the location of which was decided by the authorities in charge, has always appeared among the nine stations in the project presented to the Commission for part-financing. The Commission approved the project after undertaking, as part of the consideration procedure, a socio-economic cost-benefit assessment of the project as a whole and its compatibility with the other Community policies, in particular in the environmental area. Provided that all the conditions laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund(1) are met, the Commission does not believe that the Sogama Project or the Vilaboa transfer station should be halted.

(1) OJ L 130, 25.5.1994.