WRITTEN QUESTION E-0273/99

by Manuel Escolá Hernando (ARE) to the Commission

(17 February 1999)

Subject: Transfers from the River Ebro and the Cohesion Fund

The MWL consultancy firm, hired within the framework of the Cohesion Fund to draw up a report on the hydrological situation in Spain and Portugal, states on page 13 of the Spanish version of the publication issued by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, that in order to correct the shortages amongst catchment areas caused by the irregular seasonal and spatial distribution of water in Spain, transfers between catchment areas should be considered the most stable and suitable solution. Likewise, according to the main findings on page 15, the research points to the feasibility of building up resources through increased regulation of the flow of water in rivers and the transfer of excess water from northern Spain to the south and east of the country.

To cite the last of many possible examples, the section dealing with potential improvements on page 19 puts forward two main courses of action to correct the shortages in some catchment areas, including redistributing water between them by means of transfers, and goes on to say that the only real feasible means of resolving the problems affecting those catchment areas in which water is in short supply is to carry out works designed to transfer resources. The said transfers would affect the Norte-Duero and Ebro rivers, and in the latter instance would involve the transfer of 1 855 hm3.

The documentation used by MWL and contained in the aforementioned publication was produced by the then socialist government. However, since 1996 another party has been in power in Spain.

Bearing this in mind:

- does the Commission agree with the statements made by MWL in the publication on the need to transfer water from the Ebro catchment area? If so, does it believe that the Cohesion Fund would serve as a suitable financial instrument for that purpose?

- has the current Spanish Government made the Commission aware of its views on the statements and proposals contained in the MWL report on the feasibility of transfers from the River Ebro to other catchment areas and on possible financing arrangements?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-0271/99, E-0272/99 and E-0273/99 given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(25 March 1999)

The Montgomery Watson report financed by the Cohesion Fund is a factual and analytical presentation of the water resources of the Iberian Peninsula and sets out various approaches to its water supply problems, in particular for the most extreme situations and circumstances. It is in this context that transfers between basins were mooted as an alternative or complement to other solutions.

The Commission considers the report an apposite survey that by its range of proposals serves to advance discussion. It is a study by consultants and not a document expressing the Commission's position in an area where choices are a matter for the Member States.

The Commission has neither commissioned further studies nor received any application from the Spanish authorities for Cohesion Fund support for water transfer from the Ebro basin. If an application is made it will consider which of the instruments available to it would provide the best-geared timely assistance. A condition for Community financing of any project is compatibility with legal requirements and Community policy, including environmental law and policy.

The Commission will support all efforts towards more rational use of water resources. It will take due account of socio-economic considerations and favour more efficient use of existing infrastructure (maintenance and improvement of networks, elimination of losses) rather than encourage creation of new infrastructure the cost of which would be unjustified or uneconomic. This is in line with the thrust of its proposal for a framework Directive on water(1).

Approval in 1998 of the Portuguese and Spanish operational programmes on combating aridity submitted under the Interreg II C Community Initiative provided resources for determining and implementing the best solutions available within individual basins.

(1) COM(97) 49 final amended by COM(98) 76 final.