WRITTEN QUESTION E-2858/98

by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(28 September 1998)

Subject: Construction of a bottling plant in Taguluche (La Gomera, Canary Islands)

The Canary Islands regional government has declared the installation of a water-bottling plant in Taguluche (La Gomera) as being in the public interest. The site earmarked for the plant covers an area called Taguluche, which the regional government is seeking to have included in the Natura 2000 network provided for in Directive 92/43/EEC(1) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

As it happens, this area houses the palm groves of Phoenix, one of the priority habitats referred to directly in Directive 92/43/EEC. Installing the aforesaid bottling plant would have an obvious impact on the conservation of the palm groves and of agricultural land in the area, in that it would cut off the scarce supplies of water from the natural tributaries of the local ravine.

Is it the Commission's view that installing an industrial plant such as the one planned is compatible with the conservation of the area proposed for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(30 October 1998)

The Commission feels that the implementation of an industrial project such as that mentioned by the Honourable Member could be compatible with the protection of an area put forward for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network provided that the conditions set out in Article 6(3) and (4) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora are met.

Under that article any plan or project that is not directly linked or necessary to the management of the site, but which is likely to affect this in a significant manner, either individually or in conjunction with other projects, must be subjected to a suitable assessment of its impact on the site in terms of its conservation aims. In the light of the results of the impact assessment of the site, and subject to the provisions of paragraph 4, the Member-State authorities will only agree to the plan or project once they have been assured that it will not impair the integrity of the site concerned and once public opinion has, where appropriate, been sounded out.

If, despite the negative outcome of the site impact assessment, and in the absence of alternatives, a plan or project must nevertheless be carried out for pressing, major public-interest reasons, including social or economic factors, the Member State concerned shall take all compensatory action needed in order to ensure that the overall consistency of Natura 2000 is maintained. That Member State must inform the Commission of any compensatory action to be taken. Where the site concerned includes a priority natural habitat or species only human-health and public-safety aspects may be invoked, or else major benefits for the environment or, in the wake of a decision from the Commission, other pressing reasons that are greatly in the public interest.

The Commission would like to draw the Honourable Member's attention to the fact that Taguluche and its surrounding area have not been designated as a special bird-protection area under Article 4 of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds(2). So far they have also not been officially put forward by the Spanish authorities as being a site for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

(2) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.