WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1733/98 by Joaquim MIRANDA , Honório NOVO to the Council. Construction of a nuclear waste site in Aldeadávila, Spain
Date: 1998-06-08
Institutions: European Parliament, MIRANDA, NOVO
Subjects: Spain, consultation procedure, environmental impact, health control, impact study, radioactive pollution, radioactive waste, storage of waste, waste disposal

18.1.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 13/73

Reply

(24 September 1998)

The Council notes with satisfaction the considerable efforts already made by Member States on the issue of
subsidies for pro-European associations.

As regards the possibility, to which the Honourable Member refers, of Member States introducing (cid:145)fixed
financing arrangements(cid:146) for such associations, it is not for the Council, but for the Member States themselves, to
deal with this matter.

(1999/C 13/105)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1733/98

by Joaquim Miranda (GUE/NGL) and Hon(cid:243)rio Novo (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(8 June 1998)

Subject: Construction of a nuclear waste site in AldeadÆvila, Spain

The Spanish Government recently put a proposal to the Senate on setting up a commission to look into the
possibility of building a nuclear waste site in the `vila de la Ribera area. This proposal, like previous projects
along similar lines, caused a public outcry.

There is no doubt that building this dumping ground for nuclear waste would be a highly dangerous undertaking,
given that the proposed site lies in an area rich in granite, pose a grave danger to public health and the
environment, place the regional economy at serious risk, and contravene international standards, given that the
site is less than one hundred kilometres from the border between Spain and Portugal. Can the Council say what
stance it intends to take on this matter, given that it warrants urgent attention?

Reply

(24 September 1998)

Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the
environment (1) applies in the case of installations designed exclusively to store radioactive waste permanently or
to eliminate it definitively. Pursuant to Article 4(1) thereof, this type of installation must in principle be the
subject of an environmental impact study. In addition, Article 7 provides for consultation procedures where a
project of this kind is likely to have significant effects on the environment of another Member State, either on the
initiative of the Member State undertaking the project or at the request of the other Member State.

Moreover, Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty stipulates that each Member State must provide the Commission
which must deliver its opinion within six months, with such general data relating to any plan for the disposal of
radioactive waste in whatever form as will make it possible to determine whether the implementation of such plan
is liable to result in the radioactive contamination of the water, soil or airspace of another Member State.

The Council considers that the proper application of Community legislation should enable the environmental and
health rules in force to be observed in relation to the project referred to by the Honourable Members.

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