WRITTEN QUESTION E-3921/02

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(14 January 2003)

Subject: Roads in the Tiburtino district of Rome

The area in the south-east of Rome called the Tiburtino, where the urban fabric and the environment often suffer damage, is now the subject of a new Prusst programme devised by Rome City Council, aimed at restoring and transforming the areas along the Tiber which have deteriorated and improving the Aniene park. A road is to be built parallel to the via Tiburtina (covering the same area as the earlier detailed Plan 18 L, in which the local street network will be improved and the neighbouring via di Cerchiara extended), as is a cycle path (from the Ponte Mammolo area to Lunghezza, a village near Rome) and pedestrian streets providing access to groups of houses.

The area is, however, compromised by a large number of existing industrial and residential settlements and a motorway ring-road leading to the agri-foodstuffs centre and the Tiburtino technology park. Furthermore, about one thousand inhabitants are without drinking water and mains drainage, and road surfacing and street lighting leave much to be desired.

A further town planning project therefore threatens to worsen the situation, especially if one considers that it does not seem to take account of the local transport crisis, which affects an area with heavy traffic and a population of 940 000, if we count the inhabitants, workers in local firms and visitors to the nearby Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana (Unesco heritage sites), where so far there is only one major road (the via Tiburtina) with only one lane in each direction and no emergency lane, a stretch of urban motorway without a third lane and a single-track railway line.

The local residents' association submitted a petition to the competent local authorities and to the European Parliament (Petition No 698/2002 on road conditions on the via Tiburtina in Rome).

In view of the above, can the Commission say:

1. whether Rome City Council has carried out an environmental impact assessment for the Prusst Tiburtino in accordance with the provisions of Directive 85/337/EEC(1) and whether the obligation to inform the population laid down in Directive 2001/42/EC(2) has been fulfilled;

2. whether it is possible to suspend any further building project until the most urgent road transport projects have been carried out?

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

(2) OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(25 February 2003)

The Commission considers that programmes and plans are not covered by Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(1), whether before or after amendment by Directive 97/11/EC(2).

Should the plan be considered as substantially having the characteristics of a project, Council Directive 85/337/EEC would apply. However, on the basis of the information provided by the Honourable Member, it is not possible to conclude that the new Prusst programme envisaged by Rome City Council, aimed at restoring and transforming the areas along the Tiber, may be considered as a project.

In the light of the above, given the lack of specific grounds for the complaint on the application of the Council Directive 85/337/EEC to the specific cases, no breach of the Directive can be identified at present. Should the Honourable Member provide detailed information enabling the Commission to assess the issues in relation to the above-mentioned Directive, the Commission would also be able to investigate this matter.

Under Directive 2001/42/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment(3), certain plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment are made the subject of an environmental assessment. However, Member States are not yet obliged to apply the provisions of this Directive. The deadline for Member States to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive is 21 July 2004.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(3) OJ L 197, 21.7.2001.