WRITTEN QUESTION E-2018/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 July 2002)

Subject: Continued obstruction of shipping on the Danube as a result of the 1999 war in Serbia

1. Can the Commission confirm that of the three bridges destroyed in the 1999 war which spanned the Danube between the centre of the Serbian town Novi Sad and Petrovaradin on the south bank, only the middle bridge, the Varadinski Most joining Bulevar Mihajla Pupina and Beogradska Ulica, has been replaced by a new bridge, while the wide bridge in the west near Bulevar Oslobodjenja has been replaced by a heavily used pontoon bridge (Most na Barzama near Ulica Maksima Gorkog) and the combined road and rail bridge in the east has been replaced by a temporary rail bridge situated to the west of the ruins?

2. What are the effects of the presence of a pontoon bridge and a temporary bridge in Novi Sad on inland waterway transit traffic between the Netherlands, Germany and Austria (EU Member States) and the applicant countries Slovakia and Hungary, on the one hand, and Romania and Bulgaria to the south and east, on the other?

3. As a result of war damage, are there places other than Novi Sad for example between Smederevo and Kovin to the east of Belgrade where the width of passage or the headroom, and hence the permitted volume of shipping, is still smaller, as a result of damage, temporary bridges or shipwrecks, than the dimensions imposed by the locks in the dam in the Iron Gates (Djerdap) between Kladovo in Serbia and Dobreta-Turnu Severin in Romania?

4. What are the prospects of restoring the capacity of the Danube for shipping and that of the connections between its banks to their full pre-1999 levels?

5. How will the activities referred to in question 4 be financed? What responsibility has the EU taken for them and what responsibility will it still take, in view inter alia of the importance of the Danube as the main route for transporting freight within the EU in its likely future volume?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(13 August 2002)

1. Three bridges in Novi Sad were destroyed by NATO airstrikes in April 1999. The road/rail bridge (Zezelj) and the larger road bridge (Petrovaradin) were reconstructed by former Federal Republic of Yougoslavia (FRY) President Milosevic, before the September 2000 elections. Following the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's cooperation with the implementation of the Danube Commission's (largely Community-funded) project to restore navigation by removing debris and unexploded ordnance the Commission has agreed to proceed with a Community-funded project to reconstruct the third, and largest, bridge (Sloboda). Contracts for this work, the largest single Community-funded project in Serbia, were signed on 23 July and work will begin in autumn, as the clearance project is completed. The major reconstruction / engineering work will last until 2004. The pontoon bridge which is currently carrying this traffic will be removed, at the latest, at that time.

2. Obviously, the presence of the pontoon bridge, and the charges for its opening, is an obstacle to the free international navigation foreseen in the Belgrade Danube Convention. However, the continued presence of the bridge, the schedule for its opening, and the associated charges, were agreed between the competent body the Danube Commission and the FRY. In practice, with the implementation of the November 2001 Aide Memoire between the Danube Commission and the FRY, there is a regular opening schedule which has enabled traffic to already increase, to the benefit not only of the countries mentioned by the Honourable Member but all ten states bordering the Danube and, indeed, the wider region.

3. The Commission is not aware of this as it is, rather, an issue for the Danube Commission, the international organisation which is responsible for navigation on the Danube. In any event, it is the responsibility of the State through which the international waterway passes, at that particular point, to remove any such obstacles as might exist and to ensure that conditions are respected. The decision to provide external financing for the removal of obstacles at Novi Sad is due to the exceptional circumstances of that damage.

4. As regards shipping capacity, there has been some diversion to other forms of transport during the period of blockage of navigation. The Danube Commission records, however, increasing use of the Danube since the navigable channel was opened at the end of last year. Concerning connections between the banks of the river, as explained above, two of the bridges are already rebuilt and, while awaiting the reconstruction of the third bridge a pontoon bridge remains in place.

5. The importance of the restoration of navigation on the Danube is clearly demonstrated by the political and financial support which has been provided by the Commission. The Community is providing up to 85 % up to EUR 22 million of the cost of the Danube Commission's project for the clearance of the fairway of the Danube which is nearing completion. Community funding has also been agreed for the reconstruction of the Sloboda bridge, for an amount of EUR 34 million. More generally, the Commission is keen to encourage the possibilities of inland waterway transport, in particular on the Danube, in order to develop transport links between the candidate countries and existing Member States. The ISPA(1) financial instrument is available, in the ten candidate countries of Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe, to finance transport infrastructure projects relating to the priority Pan-European Transport Corridors of which the Danube River (Corridor VII) is an important part. The Commission is in fact, at present, considering an application from the Romanian authorities for ISPA support for the improvement of the navigability of the Danube. Similar projects which are well prepared and fully meet the criteria of the ISPA Regulation would be welcomed from other ISPA beneficiary countries.

For further information on the progress of the clearance project and more generally on the present state of Danube navigation, the Honourable Member is referred to the Danube Commission's website: www.dunacom.org and to the Commission's press release and background information from 29 November 2001(2). For further information on the Sloboda bridge project, the Honourable Member is referred to the website of the European Agency for Reconstruction (which implements Community assistance in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia): www.ear.eu.int and in particular to the press release of 23 July 2002(3) concerning the signature of the contracts for the Sloboda bridge.

(1) Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession.

(2) IP/01/1689.

(3) IP/02/1123.