WRITTEN QUESTION E-3960/00

by Ioannis Averoff (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Implementation of Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Directive 97/11/EC, and a project in the Prefecture of Ioannina, Epirus

Hydroelectricity Ltd, a subsidiary of TERNA Ltd., intends to build and operate a complex of four hydroelectric plants with a total generating capacity of 19,6 MW at a cost of GRD 13 billion at Tzoumerka in the south-eastern part of the Prefecture of Ioannina between the traditional villages of Kalarrytes, Syrrakos and Matsouki which were designated areas of outstanding natural beauty by the Ministry of Culture in 1975. The village councils of the three communities unanimously expressed their opposition to the company's plans.

However, despite the fact that they had not received the opinion of the prefectural council on this matter and despite the unanimous decisions by the village councils, the Ministries for the Environment, Development and Agriculture approved the environmental conditions for the project, without taking into account the opinions of these bodies, thereby violating national and Community law.

Council Directive 85/337/EEC(1) on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment specifically provides in Article 6(2) that the public concerned must be given the opportunity to express its opinion before the project is initiated. Article 8 of the same Directive also specifically states that information gathered pursuant to Articles 5, 6 and 7 must be taken into consideration in the development consent procedure.

Given that Member States are obliged to comply with the above provisions, will the Commission say:

1. What measures has it taken to ensure that the above Directive, and especially Articles 6 and 8 thereof, is implemented in Greece to the letter, and what action does it intend to take to address the violation referred to above?

2. If it has noticed the faulty transposition of the Directive which occurred in 1990 by Ministerial Decision 69269/5387/90, why has it failed to take action for a decade, and will it say what progress has been made in transposing Directive 97/11/EC(2)?

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

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2001)

The Commission did not have any information about the project denounced by the Honourable Member. On the basis of the information forwarded, the Commission will write to the Greek authorities and ask for details about the impact assessment procedure followed for the project in question.

As far as infringement procedures initiated against Greece are concerned, noting that measures to transpose Directive 97/11/EC(1) were not forthcoming in Greece, the Commission brought the matter before the Court of Justice on 11 October 2000 (case C 2000/374). In addition, considering that the national implementing measures transposing Directive 85/337/EEC(2) in Greece did not comply with the Directive, the Commission initiated an infringement procedure in 1993. The Commission had however to re-examine the objections it had raised in this procedure following improvements made by the Greek authorities in implementing this Directive in the 1990s. Following a new assessment, the Commission has found that some points in the Greek law still do not comply with certain provisions of the Directive and has decided to bring the matter before the Court of Justice.

(1) Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ L 73, 14.3.1997).

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