WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3107/97 by Roberta ANGELILLI to the Commission. Assessment of the environmental impact of the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line
Date: 1997-10-13
Institutions: ANGELILLI, European Parliament
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, application of EU law, award of contract, criminal procedure, environmental impact, exchange of information, high-speed transport, impact study, rail network

C 134/84

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 4. 98

(98/C 134/108)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3107/97

by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission

(13 October 1997)

Subject: Assessment of the environmental impact of the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line

Some time ago, the public prosecutor(cid:146)s office in Rome opened an inquiry into the construction work for the
Rome-Naples  high  speed  rail  link.  It  appears  that  some  Lire  5000  billion  have  been  spent  so  far  on  an
insignificant amount of work in connection with this project, mostly preliminary studies and consultants(cid:146) reports.
This expenditure, which appears to be out of all proportion to the amount of work actually carried out, is the
subject  of  the  above-mentioned  investigation.  One  particularly  dubious  aspect  is  the  procedure  whereby  the
environmental impact assessment study was commissioned from Nomisma, a consultancy set up by the current
Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, who was the public watchdog for high-speed transport matters at the time the
contract was awarded.

In view of the foregoing,

1. 

Is the Commission aware of the investigation being conducted by the Rome public prosecutor(cid:146)s office into
the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line?

2.  Have breaches of the Community legislation on the award of public contracts occurred in connection with

the Rome-Naples high-speed railway construction project?

3.  Were the assessment studies of the project(cid:146)s environmental impact carried out by Nomisma conducted in

accordance with Community directive 85/337/EEC (1)?

(1)  OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(19 November 1997)

1.
The Commission is not aware of the investigation being conducted by the Rome public prosecutor’s office
into the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line. It is not its usual practice to investigate criminal proceedings
brought by national judicial authorities.

The Honourable Member is requested to provide the Commission with any evidence at her disposal which

2.
might suggest that a breach of Community public procurement legislation has taken place.

3.
As regards the issue of whether the environmental impact assessment procedure complied with 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),  the  Honourable  Member  is  asked  to  refer  to  the  answer  given  to  her  written  question
E-2351/97 (2).

(1)  OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2)  OJ C 82, 17.3.1998, p. 62.

(98/C 134/109)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3110/97

by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission

(13 October 1997)

Subject: European legislation on motorcyclists

Recently the Italian press has carried reports of various new Community rules concerning motorcyclists and their
equipment. This has led to protests on the part of Italian motorcycling associations, which have pointed out that
the  new  rules  would  considerably  penalize  users  of  two-wheeled  vehicles,  and  were  based  on  somewhat
questionable assessments of safety requirements.

In view of the foregoing,

1.  Could the Commission specify the nature of Commissioner Kinnock(cid:146)s proposals concerning motorcyclists

and the legislative stages through which they will pass?