WRITTEN QUESTION E-2247/02

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 July 2002)

Subject: Compliance of EU-funded infrastructure projects with the provisions of EC environmental legislation the case of the D8 motorway project in the Czech Republic

The D8 motorway is part of the Berlin-Istanbul IV European multi-modal transport corridor. Two sections of the motorway part of the Czech side are yet to be built. For the section across Ceske Stredohori Protected Landscape Area (part of EECONET) the Czech authorities contracted an EIB loan in November 2001. The second section is planned across the SPA (Special Protection Area) for birds in the Eastern Krusne Hory mountains. Both areas are potential sites for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network.

As regards the section across Ceske Stredohori an EIA was carried out in 1996. However only one option was assessed, though this practice contradicts the provisions of the EIA Act of the Czech Republic. This was confirmed by the Legislative Commission of the Czech Minister of Environment in March 1999, which following a complaint by environment NGOs stated that the decision contained formal and procedural errors, therefore it can not be considered as a decision according to the EIA Act. The contract with the EIB for the above loan was signed in November 2001.

Is the Commission aware of the alleged procedural errors committed during the EIA of the D8 motorway project section across Ceske Stredohori?

How does the Commission ensure the compliance of EIA loans' concessions and pre-accession funding with the environment acquis already adopted and implemented in the candidate countries?

How does the Commission, in the framework of the EU's pre-accession strategy, ensure the compatibility between the objective of establishing in due time the Natura 2000 sites in the future member states on the one hand and the implementation of transport infrastructure projects, such as this D8 motorway project, on the other?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2002)

The section of the D8 motorway across Ceske Sredohori, the so-called section 0805, is being financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Information from the EIB confirmed that the Enviromental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures for section 0805 were undertaken in accordance with existing Czech laws and that the Czech Ministry of Environment imposed the necessary conditions and mitigation measures to minimise impacts on the Protected Landscape Area. If there is now evidence that national law has been violated, it might be possible to take the case to the competent national courts. The Commission has no competence to intervene in such national cases during the pre-accession period.

The Commission has always insisted on the need to apply Community legislation, in particular the EIA Directive(1) as well as nature protection legislation, to the development of new infrastructure projects during the pre-accession period. This should apply not only to projects co-financed through Community pre-accession funds but to any new investment, including of course those benefiting from EIB loans. In this respect, the Commission has, in the context of the consultation procedure regulated by Article 21 of the EIB's Statute, systematically reminded the Bank the need to ensure that procedures concerning EIA and nature protection are in line with relevant Community legislation for the projects they finance.

The candidate countries are currently working on the transposition and implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directives(2) including the selection of sites to be proposed for inclusion in the list of Natura 2000 sites.

As long as no lists of such sites have been identified by the candidate countries, the Commission considers that when considering projects for Community assistance, the following types of sites should be regarded as environmentally sensitive areas in the field of nature protection:

(a) sites listed in the latest inventory on Important Bird Areas for candidate countries (IBA 2000, prepared by Birdlife International) and (if available) equivalent more detailed scientific inventories endorsed by national authorities;

(b) wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention or qualifying for such protection;

(c) areas to which the Bern Convention on the conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Article 4) applies, in particular sites meeting the criteria of the Emerald network;

(d) areas protected under national nature conservation legislation.

In case any of these sites are likely to be affected significantly by any plan or project to be financed by pre-accession funding, similar procedures as foreseen in Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats Directive would need to be applied in order to ensure appropriate treatment of such cases in line with the Community environmental protection standards.

(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 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, and Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds; OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.