EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/944

(2004/C 78 E/0999)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0231/04

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(26 January 2004)

Subject: EIB loan to Schiphol Airport

For the financing of its fifth runway (known as the ‘Polderbaan’), Schiphol Airport successfully applied for a European Investment Bank loan of EUR 150 million.

Friends of the Earth Netherlands claims that the loan was approved (on 15 February 2002) before the requisite environmental impact assessment into the use of the ‘Polderbaan’ was completed (on 11 March 2002).

According to a report entitled: ‘Flying with Big Business: The European Investment Bank and the Aviation Industry’, published in November 2003 by Friends of the Earth International and CEE Bankwatch Network, the same applied to the expansion of Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, except that, in that particular instance, no EIA was carried out at all.

On what date did the EIB inform the European Commission of its intention to grant a soft loan to Schiphol Airport, and was that information accompanied by an environmental impact assessment that may be made public?

Does the Commission share my view that the EIB should have waited for the result of the EIA referred to above before approving the loan? How will the Commission approach the EIB with a view to reversing the matter?

How will the Commission approach the EIB with a view to ensuring that such circumstances do not recur?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2004)

The European Investment Bank (EIB) submitted to the Commission the necessary information for the Consultation foreseen under Article 21 of the Bank's statute on 29 November 2001. According to this information a formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had been carried out already in 1995 satisfying the needs of the 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) as modified by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 (2). In addition, according to the information submitted by the EIB in the framework of the above consultation, planning approvals which follow an EIA had also been granted by the appropriate authorities. The EIB loan agreement puts a legal obligation on the project promoter to comply with any relevant legislation, including environmental legislation. On this basis, the Commission did not raise any further questions with respect to the environmental impact. The submission of additional specific documentation, studies, etc. is not foreseen under the Article 21 consultation procedure.

In a reply to the Friends of the Earth, Netherlands, of December 2002, copied to the Commission, the EIB explained that a further EIA was completed on 11 March 2002. This EIA did not specifically concern the operation of the fifth runway, but rather the adaptation of noise and other environmental parameters at Schiphol Airport as a whole, in the light of the new Aviation Act. Nonetheless, the Commission and the EIB will ask the Dutch Authorities to provide further information on this EIA so that it can be verified if this assessment falls within the framework of the Council Directive 85/337/EEC.

More generally, in addition to the Article 21 consultation procedure where the Commission has an opportunity to express a formal opinion on the EIB's operation, the Commission and EIB services have established regular contacts in an effort to better integrate the environmental approaches of the two institutions. In view of its importance in the overall authorisation procedure for any given project, the question of the EIA procedure on the basis of the above-mentioned Directive has been the subject of many working sessions between the Commission and the Bank services. In particular it has been recognised that, as a result of a formal EIA, certain aspects of a project may change. It is, therefore, of interest also to the promoter and consequently to the financing institution to wait for the completion of the formal EIA in order to have the final design and the final cost of the project.

The Commission will continue to pay particular attention to the correct implementation of the EIA Directive both in the framework of the Article 21 consultation procedure and the contacts at technical level.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.