EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/594

(2004/C 78 E/0628)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3571/03

by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: Threat to a water protection zone in one member State by a project in another

A garage is currently being built near the municipality of Pavlùv Studenec in the Czech Republic, and the construction of a large petrol station is planned as part of this project. On the German side of the border there is a water protection zone near the municipality of Bärnau, whose springs provide some 60 % of the population of Bärnau with drinking water. Since the petrol station due to be built on the Czech side is situated on a hill overlooking the border, the water protection zone is at risk from pollution in the event of leaks of hazardous substances on the Czech side. Nevertheless, the Czech administration intends to approve the construction of the petrol station.

In view of the above, will the Commission say whether after accession to the European Union the Czech authorities will be obliged to respect a water protection zone on the German side of the border as part of water legislation?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(6 February 2004)

The Community legislation on Environmental Impact Assessment (1) (EIA) requires that private and public projects that are likely to have significant effects on the environment must be subject to an assessment of their potential effects on the environment before they can be allowed to proceed. EIAs are mandatory for certain projects listed in Annex I of the Directive, but Member States have discretion determining whether projects of the type listed in Annex II require an EIA, based on selection criteria provided in Annex III.

Where a project subject to an EIA is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of another Member State, it must be ensured that specific procedures are followed concerning information exchange, participation in the assessment procedure and consultation.

The result of the consultation has to be taken into account in the development consent procedure. However, a negative impact assessment does not automatically imply that a project is not allowed to proceed.

In order to decide whether the construction of a petrol station requires an EIA, it is necessary to know the capacity of the station. For instance, if it concerns an installation with a capacity of more than 100 000 tonnes, an EIA is obligatory. If the installation has a capacity of between 5 000 and 100 000 tonnes, there is an obligation to carry out a screening to see if an EIA is necessary. For installations with a capacity under 5 000 tonnes no screening is necessary.

The Czech Republic has to fully implement the EIA Directive by the time of accession at the latest. However, according to information provided by the country, the EIA Directive has already been transposed and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Convention dealing with transboundary impact assessment of projects and plans (Espoo) ratified. Therefore a transboundary consultation on projects potentially having effects on the environment of other states would normally already need to be carried out now and comments of the affected state taken into account in preparing the EIA statement and final decision.

The Community legislation on water protection is mainly based on the Water Framework Directive (2). Article 7 of the Directive requires, inter alia, the establishment of protected areas for the abstraction of drinking water by the end of 2004. Since the management will be co-ordinated for the whole river basin, transboundary issues need to be addressed in this context. In other words, the Czech and German Authorities will have to discuss and agree whether the respective area becomes a transboundary drinking water protected area. However, this obligation under the Water Framework Directive can only be enforced by the Commission after the Accession of the Czech Republic and after the deadline in the Directive has expired. Previous Community legislation on water, in particular the Groundwater Directive (3), did not provide for the establishment of groundwater protected areas. However, it requires the prior authorisation of, e.g. underground storage tanks.

The Commission has been informed that the issue raised by the Honourable Member in his Written Question has already been the subject of bilateral discussions between Germany and the Czech Republic in the Commission of Border Waters between the two countries. Such discussions should continue in the framework of bilateral agreements between the Czech Republic and Germany.

The Commission is monitoring closely that the commitments made by the Czech Republic and the other acceding Countries in the accession negotiations are being respected.

(1) 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) Decision No 2455/2001/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2001 establishing the list of priority substances in the field of water policy and amending Directive 2000/60/EC, OJ L 331, 15.12.2001.

(3) Council Directive 80/68/EEC of 17 December 1979 on the protection of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances, OJ L 20, 26.1.1980.