WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1897/98 by Konstantinos HATZIDAKIS to the Commission. Pollution of the town of Chania through the expansion of an electricity plant
Date: 1998-06-16
Institutions: European Parliament, HATZIDAKIS
Subjects: Crete, air quality, application of EU law, dangerous substance, environmental impact, power plant, public health, water pollution

C 31/98

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.2.1999

(1999/C 31/131)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1892/98

by Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PSE) to the Commission

(9 June 1998)

Subject: System for the award of licences under the new COM in bananas

In the context of its amendment of the Common Organization of the Market in bananas (Regulation (EEC) 404/
93 (1)), can the Commission specify the technical arrangements for award of licences which it intends to introduce
in its implementing regulation, particularly with a view to guaranteeing the existing quantities for non-traditional
ACP countries?

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 July 1998)

As part of the procedure for the adoption of the amendments to Council Regulation (EEC) 404/93 of 13 February
1993 on the common organisation of the market in bananas, it was agreed, with regard to the arrangements for
import licences, that the traders who would obtain the licences would be those who had actually been importing
bananas over a recent reference period. The detailed rules will have to be adopted before the end of 1998.

The quantities of non-traditional bananas from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which have been
exported in the past will therefore confer entitlement also to import in the future, thereby enabling the traders in
question to continue their imports.

(1999/C 31/132)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1897/98

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE) to the Commission

(16 June 1998)

Subject: Pollution of the town of Chania through the expansion of an electricity plant

The Medical Association of Chania, Crete, alleges that the planned expansion of the electricity plant at
Xylokamara, located a mere three kilometres from the town centre, will have a particularly adverse effect on
the health of local inhabitants, owing to the aggravation of atmospheric pollution caused by fumes from the plant.
The sea in the vicinity of Chania will undoubtedly also be affected, as effluent from the plant will be discharged
into Soudha Bay without being treated in any way. Tourism in the region › which is the mainstay of the local
economy › will certainly be affected.

Will the Commission say whether it is aware of this state of affairs, whether the planned expansion is in keeping
with Community environmental and public health protection legislation and what measures it intends to take
should this not be the case, in order to prevent any aggravation of atmospheric and marine pollution and any
health risk to local inhabitants and the thousands of tourists who visit the town annually?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(15 July 1998)

The Commission had not been informed of the situation to which the Honourable Member refers.

Under Community law, the extension of an electricity plant must first be assessed on the basis of Council
Directive 88/609/EEC on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion
plants (1) which sets limit values for emissions of SO2, NOx and dust. It applies to plants with a thermal input
exceeding 50 megawatts. Where a combustion plant is extended by at least 50 megawatts, the emission limit value
to be applied to the new part of the plant must be fixed in relation to the thermal capacity of the entire plant.