EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 33/6

(2004/C 33 E/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2449/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 August 2002)

Subject: Contacts with the World Bank, the Romanian government and the Alburnus Maior action group to prevent a toxic disaster area in Transylvania

1. What does the Commission know about World Bank involvement in the Eurogold project near the Romanian village of Rosia Montana, which is being used by the company with the passive agreement of the World Bank as an argument to attract investors, in that the firm claims that the World Bank itself is in favour of a large goldmine in the area whereas the World Bank says that the project is still at the feasibility study stage?

2. Does the Commission not share my view that the necessary strengthening of the Romanian economy will not be helped by projects based on crude short-term over-exploitation resulting in virtually irreparable damage to neighbouring countries, the environment and future generations?

3. Is the Commission prepared to advise the Romanian government and the World Bank strongly against going ahead with this project, by advocating that any further extraction of gold in the area should not be done by opencast mining and by ensuring that no source of lethal toxicity remains after mining has ceased?

4. Is the Commission prepared to establish contacts with the Alburnus Maior action group set up in connection with this project and take other measures to prevent a situation in which, after 15 years mining, a toxic area is left and disaster areas similar to Chernobyl may arise in the surrounding area in the future?

Source: De Volkskrant, 13 July 2002 and 17 July 2002.

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-2448/02 and E-2449/02

given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(21 October 2002)

Following the incident referred to by the Honourable Member, the Commission set up the Baia Mare Task Force to establish the facts, assess the damage and draw the lessons to be learned from the incident. Following this episode and other similar incidents, the Commission published a Communication on the ‘Safe operation of mining activities: a follow-up to recent mining accidents’ (1).

The Commission has received some information concerning the project mentioned by the Honourable Member. The Commission is not involved in it and has had no specific contacts with the World Bank on this subject.

The Commission has not been informed on the purchase of a copper mine in the Judet of Alba and in particular about the intentions of the purchasing company.

The Commission assists the candidate countries in the process of transposing and implementing the Community ‘acquis’ as they prepare for accession. While there is at present no ‘acquis’ specifically related to environmental protection in gold mining and no Community funding is involved in this particular project, Romanian legislation transposing the Directives on Access to Environmental Information and Environmental Impact Assessment (2) should be applicable, even if transposition of both Directives is still as yet incomplete.

However, at this stage it should be underlined that until now the project promoter, who is under an obligation to apply for an environmental licence, has not submitted any official request to the Romanian authorities.

Finally, in the context of its activities promoting good governance, the Commission has adopted a specific action plan on environmental governance. One of the basic pillars of good governance is ensuring that decisions are taken on the basis of full information, and in consultation with all the groups who will be affected, including citizens groups and residents in the area of a proposed project. Thus, the Commission would expect Romania to take these principles into account.

(1) COM(2000) 664 final.

(2) Council 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. Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment, OJ L 158, 23.6.1990.