WRITTEN QUESTION E-1146/01

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: Environmental aggression on the island of Lanzarote (Canaries, Spain)

Unesco has declared the island of Lanzarote, in the Canaries archipelago, a biosphere reserve. Action by the Canaries artist César Manrique helped to preserve the island from attacks on its natural, landscape and archaeological assets. Now, however, strong pressure from tourism is threatening to eliminate areas of special ecological and cultural value.

The construction of Marína del Rubicón, a marina in the bay of Berrugo (Playa Blanca), has already destroyed a part of an area of great natural and ethnographic value in the Lanzarote local authority of Yaiza. The intertidal zone has a base of low sand and ridges, forming a perfect ecosystem for fish to lay their eggs and feed, but thousands of tons of stone and gravel have already been deposited there, blocking up the small beach via which small local boats used to go out to fish. Archaeological and historical remains are also affected.

What action can the Commission take to ensure compliance with Directives 85/337/EEC(1) and 92/43/EEC(2) on environmental impact assessments and the protection of natural habitats in this case?

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

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

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 June 2001)

The Commission was unaware of the situation the Honourable Member refers to in her Written Question.

On the basis of the information received from the Honourable Member, the Commission has ascertained that the area of the island of Lanzarote where the marina in question is to be built has not been classified by the Spanish authorities as a special protection area for birds under Article 4

of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds(1). Nor is it an area identified by the scientific community as an important area for birds in the inventory prepared for the Commission in 1998 by national experts and Birdlife. Moreover, the Spanish authorities have not identified it as a site of Community importance for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Therefore, as far as nature conservation is concerned, this case appears to be a matter for the Spanish national and regional authorities alone.

With regard to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of certain public and private projects on the environment, it should be noted that Article 2 thereof provides that projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location must be made subject to an assessment with regard to their effects before development consent is given.

This provision applies to projects of the classes listed in Annexes I and II to the Directive. Annex II point 10(j) includes the construction of yacht marinas. Under the terms of Article 4(2) projects of the classes listed in Annex II must be made subject to an environmental impact assessment where Member States consider that their characteristics so require.

It should be noted that Directive 85/337/EEC was amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997(2). However, under Article 3(2) of Directive 97/11/EC if a request for development consent is submitted before 14 March 1999 the provisions of Directive 85/337/EEC prior to amendment continue to apply.

In any event, the Commission has contacted the Spanish authorities to ask for their comments on the situation reported by the Honourable Member in this written question, so as to ensure that the applicable Community law is complied with in this particular case.

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.