WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1270/97 by Roberta ANGELILLI to the Commission. Rome City Council's project to build a subway under the Castel Sant'Angelo and Directive 97/11/EC
Date: 1997-04-11
Institutions: ANGELILLI, European Parliament
Subjects: European standard, Latium, engineering structure, environmental impact, environmental protection, heritage protection, project evaluation, public contract, public works, urban construction













EUR-Lex - 91997E1270 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91997E1270

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1270/97 by Roberta ANGELILLI to the Commission. Rome City Council's project to build a subway under the Castel Sant'Angelo and Directive 97/11/EC  


Official Journal C 373 , 09/12/1997 P. 0097 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1270/97 by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission (11 April 1997)Subject: Rome City Council's project to build a subway under the Castel Sant'Angelo and Directive 97/11/ECSome time ago Rome City Council launched a project, in the context of the public works to be carried out for the Jubilee in the year 2000, for an underground passage approximately 1 kilometre long beside the Tiber, near St. Peter's Square, called the 'Castel Sant'Angelo subway'. Although it was vigorously opposed by a number of grass-roots committees and various environmental organizations, the project was approved, after a number of modifications were made to the original version, by the Higher Council for Public Works. The subway is to be built on land which has complex hydrogeological characteristics and contains a significant quantity of archaeological remains, including the ancient walls of the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian, on the foundations of which the more recent Castel Sant'Angelo was built.It would seem that Rome City Council has not yet carried out an environmental impact assessment of this project under the terms laid down in European legislation, in particular in Directive 85/337/EEC ((OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40. )) and Directive 97/11/EC ((OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5. )), the second of which explicitly states in Annex III that the location of a structure in wetlands and areas of historical, cultural or archaeological importance is a fundamental and essential factor in the environmental impact assessment. Furthermore, the section of the general public directly concerned by the construction in question was not consulted.Can the Commission ascertain whether Rome City Council has complied with European legislation on public contracts as regards the project for the Castel Sant'Angelo subway? Can it ascertain whether Rome City Council and the Italian Ministry of Public Works have contravened Community legislation on the environmental impact assessment of public and private projects, in particular Directives 85/337/EEC and 97/11/EC? Finally, can the Commission give its opinion on the whole issue?Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (29 May 1997)The Commission is not at the moment aware of any infringements of Community regulations as regards public contracts for the project to build a subway under Castel Sant'Angelo.The project to which the Honourable Member refers comes under the projects listed in Annex II to Directive 85/337/EEC. For these projects, the environmental impact assessment procedure is not automatic, but it must be carried out if the project has a major environmental impact because of its characteristics, size or location.Furthermore, all categories of project provided for in Annex II to Directive 85/337/EEC must be evaluated to establish whether it is necessary to carry out the environmental impact assessment procedure provided for in that Directive.In the light of the facts to which the Honourable Member has drawn attention and earlier considerations, the Commission will be contacting the Italian authorities.