WRITTEN QUESTION E-0711/03

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 March 2003)

Subject: Enlargement of Milan-Malpensa airport

Does the Commission not consider the procedures for the award of contracts in connection with the enlargement of Milan-Malpensa airport to be in contravention of current EU law (in particular the rules relating to public contracts)? Do the enlargement plans not go way beyond what was originally approved and do they not constitute a clear departure from the original proposal? Should an environmental impact assessment (EIA) not be carried out before construction work gets under way?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2003)

The Commission is unable, on the basis of the information submitted by the Honourable Member in his written question and in the numerous documents annexed to it, to ascertain whether any infringements of

Community law on public procurement were committed by the SEA Awarding Entity when awarding the contract for the enlargement of the Malpensa airport. This said, the Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that its services (Internal Market Directorate-General, Directorate for Public Procurement Policy) are available to examine any additional information that is liable to clarify the nature and scope of the infringement of Community law on public procurement alluded to in the said written question.

Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(1), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997(2) hereinafter referred to as the Directive establishes that, before consent is given, projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject to a requirement for development consent and an assessment with regard to their effects. Projects listed in Annex I to this Directive shall be subject to an assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10. For projects listed in Annex II, the Member States shall determine through (a) a case-by-case examination, or (b) thresholds or criteria set by the Member State, whether the project shall be subject to an assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10.

Airports with a basic runway length of 2 100 metres or more are mentioned in Annex I of the Directive (class 7a). Any change or extension to projects listed in Annex I or Annex II, already authorised, executed or in the process of being executed, which may have significant adverse effects on the environment are listed in Annex II to the Directive (class 13).

In order to gather information on this specific issue and assess its compliance with the above-mentioned provisions of Community law, the Commission has recently sent a request for information to the Italian authorities. Should it emerge that in the case raised by the Honourable Member the above-mentioned provisions have not been correctly applied, the Commission will not hesitate to take the appropriate steps, in accordance with its prerogatives under Article 211 of the EC Treaty, in order to ensure compliance with Community law.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.