WRITTEN QUESTION E-0220/01

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

(5 February 2001)

Subject: Planning of the Daskalovo-Kulata motorway section through the Kresna gorge nature conservation area in Bulgaria

Referring to the answer given by Mrs Wallström to written question E-3147/00(1) I would like to submit the following further requests of clarification:

Since the start of the preparations of the feasibility study by the Italian company SPEA Ingegneria Europea on 9 March 2000, financed within the Phare CBC facility, the public has neither been involved in nor officially informed by the respective Bulgarian authorities (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works MRDPW, and the CBC implementing agency General Road Administration) about plans concerning the construction of this motorway section. The feasibility study has thus been drawn up and submitted to the

Bulgarian Government and the Commission disregarding the public participation procedures as outlined in Articles 6 and 7 of the Aarhus Convention, of which Bulgaria is signatory, and at variance with the partnership principle which is required for programming and implementation procedures in the framework of the EU's social and economic cohesion policy, and which Bulgaria is supposed to transpose in view of its accession to the EU.

1. Is the Commission aware of the serious lack of public participation and information during the planning procedure for the Daskalovo-Kulata motorway section (part of the Trans-European Corridor No 4)?

2. How does the Commission under these conditions intend to ensure that the less damaging route for the environment is used, and that alternative solutions to the one through the Kresna gorge are properly taken into account and their environmental impact evaluated, given in particular that Bulgaria has not yet fully transposed the EC requirements on environmental impact assessments, though they are part of the short-term priorities outlined in the Accession Partnership 1999 with Bulgaria?

3. Has the Commission officially informed the CBC implementation agency about its concerns as expressed in its answer to question E-3147/00, which have been the terms of reference for the implementation of the CBC project E-79 by SPEA, and is the draft feasibility study submitted to the Bulgarian Government and the European Commission now available for the public and for public participation?

(1) OJ C 174 E, 19.6.2001, p. 20.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 2001)

1. The Commission is aware that public participation in the planning procedure of the Sofia-Kulata motorway has been quite weak. The Commission has expressed its concerns about this project in various meetings held in recent months with representatives of the Bulgarian authorities and with representatives of Bulgarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs). During these meetings the Commission has repeatedly stressed that it will only accept to finance projects under the pre-accession instruments that comply with the Community environmental acquis. Moreover, the importance of involving the public and the civil society at a very early stage in such important construction projects has been emphasised.

2. The Commission has already indicated that it will closely follow the planning of the Struma motorway, in order to ensure, to the extent possible, that the least damaging route for the environment is used, and that an alternative solution to the one that is presently planned would be chosen, if necessary. The Commission has already evaluated a first version of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Struma Motorway project, and it has indicated that it has to be completed and deepened in order to comply with standards similar to those included in the EIA Directive(1). The Commission has specifically indicated that alternative solutions to the one that passes through the Kresna Gorge have to be thoroughly and seriously studied. The Commission will then evaluate the amended version of the EIA report and express its opinion on it.

As regards the transposition and the implementation of the EIA Directive in Bulgaria, the Commission has been informed that the full transposition will be reached with the adoption of the new Environment Protection Act that is presently in the second reading stage in the National Assembly of Bulgaria. In particular this Act will address the current gaps in Bulgarian EIA legislation relating to, inter alia, public participation. Within six months of the adoption of the new Environment Protection Act, the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria has to adopt some implementing regulations on procedural issues of the EIA. Once these regulations are in place, the implementation of the EIA Directive in Bulgaria should be complete.

3. The Commission is following the issues related to the project of the Struma Motorway very closely. It is in regular contact with the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Ministry of Transport and the Cross-border co-operation (CBC) implementation agency with regard to this project. Both Ministries and the CBC implementation agency have been informed of the position of the Commission and of the content of the answer to written question E-3147/00 by Mr Meijer(2). The Commission plans to officially transmit the content of the anwer to written question E-3147/00 to both Ministries and to the CBC implementation agency. Once the EIA report is finalised it will be made public.

(1) 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).

(2) OJ C 174 E, 19.6.2001, p. 20.