WRITTEN QUESTION E-3914/97 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (11 December 1997)

Subject: Seveso directive

For requirements relating to the protection of the environment and the safety of establishments the directives

- of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (85/337/EEC) ((OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40. )),

- of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (96/61/EC) ((OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26. )) and

- of 9 December 1996 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (96/82/EC) ((OJ L 10, 14.1.1997, p. 13. ))

are of fundamental importance.

The last two of these directives must be implemented by the Member States by 1999 at the latest. During the discussions this has prompted a number of views giving rise to the following questions to the Commission have been put forward.

Article 13(4) of Directive 96/82/EC requires safety reports to be made available to the public. However, it rules that the operator may ask the competent authority not to disclose certain parts of the report, in which case it itself makes an amended report available to the public.

Is Article 13(4) to be implemented in accordance with the directive on the freedom of access to information on the environment (90/313/EEC)?

When Article 19(4) of Directive 96/82/EC is implemented with respect to the possibilities for restricting access to safety reports, are the provisions of Directive 90/313/EEC regarding the restriction of access therefore to be observed?

May an operator request that, as 'parts', whole sections of reports concerning the items referred to in Annex II to Directive 96/82/EC are not disclosed to the public, or are the 'parts' to which public access may be denied only individual items of information for which the operator can prove or substantiate a need for protection?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (26 January 1998)

The provisions of Council Directive 96/82/EC of 9 December 1996 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Seveso II) regarding information to be given to the public are to be implemented in agreement with Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment ((OJ L 158, 23.6.1990. )), which lays down general rules on the freedom of access to information on the environment held by the authorities and the basic conditions under which such information is to be made available. The two Directives do not contradict, but rather complement each other.

Article 13(4) and Article 20 of the Seveso II Directive stipulate that the Member States must ensure that not only safety reports are made available to the public, but that, in the interest of openness, all information received pursuant to the Directive should be made available upon request to any natural or legal person.

The freedom of access to information is limited by the need for protection on grounds of industrial or trade secrets, personal privacy, public security or national defence and when there is a need for confidentiality of the information because of ongoing investigations or legal proceedings.

The confidentiality of information may concern whole parts of a safety report or just individual items of information. The exact material concerned must be referred to by the operator of an installation in each specific instance.

The rules on the confidentiality of information also apply to the reports on the implementation and application of the Seveso II Directive which the Commission is obliged to publish every three years under Article 19(4).