WRITTEN QUESTION E-3470/98

by Lis Jensen (I-EDN) to the Commission

(25 November 1998)

Subject: EIB funding for the construction of motorways in the Czech Republic

In the near future, the European Investment Bank (EIB) loan of ECU 230 million should be provided for construction of several sections of motorway in the Czech Republic. The EIB does not take into account the fact that the motorway links to which the funding should be directed form a part of a highly controversial option in the current Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEA) for Transport Network Development Conception till 2010 (TNDC). The SEA is being conducted for three options, of which the one which includes EIB funding is deemed by independent experts to be the most environmentally controversial. The motorway sections which the EIB intends to fund are so controversial that, in a number of cases, their construction would actually be unlawful. This is especially true in the case of the D8 motorway, which is designed to pass through the Ceske Stredohori Protected Landscape Area, one of the key zones of environmental stability at European level. Such a step would violate Czech law on nature protection that literally forbids the construction of motorways in such areas. Other cases of violation include the D11 motorway, which would cut through one of the most valuable nature reserves, and Prague ring road. The latter is also a matter of concern: future impact on the environment, recreation zones and densely-populated areas.

The Bank does not seem to be aware of the other two TNDC options assessed under the SEA, which do not take the above-mentioned motorways into account at all or propose alternative routes.

1. What kind of EU policy or internal policy justifies the EIB announcement that its loan will be provided before the Czech Government takes final decision on the route options for motorways?

2. How does the EIB take into account ongoing or assessment procedures underway in the countries of where it operates, as in the present case in the Czech Republic, which are connected with possible investment opportunities, when it does not monitor the actual situation there?

3. What is the EIB's liability if the project it finances in the Czech Republic weakens EU and national legislation and damages the affected people and the environment?

Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 1999)

1. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has indeed signed a loan contract of ECU 230 million to finance a number of road sections in the Czech Republic, including stretches of the D8 and D11 motorways. The projects form an integral part of the Czech motorway development plan approved by the Czech government in October 1996. Under the loan contract disbursement is strictly conditional upon confirmation by the Czech authorities that the necessary approvals and permits required by local legislation prior to construction have been issued, including those related to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and management of protected areas.

2. The EIB has procedures for assessment of projects and for monitoring progress of projects. The fact that the EIB has included the above mentioned condition shows that it monitors the current situation of a project.

As stated in point 1, EIB loans are conditional upon strict compliance with national and Community environmental legislation.