WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4189/97 by Eolo PARODI , Guido VICECONTE to the Commission. Community funds for the rebuilding of the Petruzzelli opera house in Bari
Date: 1998-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, PARODI, VICECONTE
Subjects: Apulia, EU financing, Italy, Veneto, architectural heritage, cultural heritage, heritage protection, performing arts, regional development

C 196/96

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

(98/C 196/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4189/97

by Eolo Parodi (UPE) and Guido Viceconte (UPE) to the Commission

(21 January 1998)

Subject: Community funds for the rebuilding of the Petruzzelli opera house in Bari

The Petruzzelli opera house in Bari, which was built between 1898 and 1903 and registered as a building of
historical  and  artistic  interest  in  1954  and  a  traditional  opera  house  in  1967,  and  which  is  the  only
privately-owned opera house in Europe, was extensively damaged by fire on 27 October 1991.

Another  famous  Italian  opera  house,  the  Fenice  in  Venice,  met  a  similar  fate  in  1996,  when  it  was  totally
destroyed.

Substantial  Community  funding  has  rightly  been  provided  for  the  partial  restoration  of  the  Fenice;  for  some
unknown reason, however, only ECU 80 000 have been allocated to the Petruzzelli opera house, for the partial
restoration of its foyer.

Given the above, would the Commission state whether:

1. 

2. 

the smallness of the Community grant is due to the fact that, unlike the other European opera houses, the
Petruzzelli is privately owned?

it would not agree that there is an extremely urgent need for Community funds to be released with a view to
the completion of the rebuilding work at the Petruzzelli, given that the Messeni Nemagna family, which
owns the opera house, does not have the funds required to complete the restoration work?

Answer given by Mr Oreja on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 1998)

1.
As part of the support granted in 1994 for pilot projects involving the conservation of Europe(cid:146)s architectural
heritage  ›  the  theme  of  which  was  theatres  and  opera  houses  ›  the  Petruzzelli  opera  house  in  Bari,  Italy,
received a grant of some ECU 80 000 from the Commission.

As part of the preparation for the Raphae(cid:136)l programme, the Commission launched other initiatives in support of
the conservation of architectural heritage in 1995, 1996 and 1997, in various priority areas (religious and baroque
buildings, decorative facades and pre-industrial architecture).

2.
In the context of regional development initiatives (Structural Funds), the rebuilding of the opera house was
listed  as  one  of  the  beneficiaries  under  measure  6.3,  (cid:145)Recovery  of  cultural  property(cid:146),  of  the  operational
programme cofinanced by the Structural Funds for the Puglia region during the period 1994-1999.

According  to  information  received  by  the  Italian  authorities,  a  request  for  finance  was  submitted  under  this
initiative,  but  was  not  accepted  by  the  Italian  regional  authorities  at  that  stage  as  some  of  the  conditions  for
eligibility had not been fulfilled.

Even though the property is of public interest, as it is in private hands and is a potential source of profit, the level
of  cofinancing  granted  must  be  restricted  to  a  percentage  of  the  eligible  expenditure,  in  accordance  with  the
provisions laid down by Community regulations.

(98/C 196/136)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4190/97

by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission

(21 January 1998)

Subject: Electricity transmission lines and magnetic fields: health hazards

Leading European environmental organizations such as Codacons and Legambiente have loudly protested at the
statements made by Enel, which has a monopoly on electricity distribution in Italy, regarding the construction of
a large electricity transforming station in Striano, in the Province of Naples.