WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2462/98 by Honório NOVO Road and rail access to the commercial port of Viana do Castelo
Date: 1998-07-30
Institutions: European Parliament, NOVO
Subjects: Community support framework, European Regional Development Fund, Portugal, co-financing, environmental impact, environmental protection, harbour installation, road building

C 320/6

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.11.1999

(1999/C 320/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2363/98

by Lyndon Harrison (PSE) to the Commission

(15 July 1998)

Subject: Protection of tourists

Bearing in mind an incident this year in which a young child from my constituency received serious injuries
when he slipped and put his feet through glass in patio doors at self-catering holiday accommodation in Spain,
has the Commission considered harmonizing standards especially with respect to the use of toughened glass in
holiday accommodation which is used by tourists from all parts of the EU?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(10 September 1998)

Building regulations, and more particularly the safety regulations for buildings open to the public, remain
within the competence of the Member States.

The Commission has prepared mandates to the European committee for standardisation (CEN) for the
harmonisation of standards on doors and windows, including those made of glass, as well as for the
harmonisation of standards on floorings, taking into account the anti-slipperiness characteristic, but the
regulations related to the different possible uses of these construction products are fixed by each Member State.

(1999/C 320/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2462/98

by Honório Novo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(30 July 1998)

Subject: Road and rail access to the commercial port of Viana do Castelo

The Directorate-General for Ports, Navigation and Maritime Transport and the Municipality of Viana do
Castelo have drawn up plans, currently at the study stage, to construct a road and rail access to the commercial
port of Viana do Castelo.

In order to carry out the project, an application will be or has already been made for Community co-financing
under the second Community Support Framework.

These studies and projects are to be carried out without any assessment of the environmental impact and are
openly opposed by local people and various environmental organisations. Among other highly controversial
aspects with an impact on the environment and the landscape, the plans involve the complete filling-in of
marshland and wetlands, construction on the bed of the river Lima, construction in national ecological
conservation areas and in national agricultural conservation areas and also construction in areas containing
biotopes of European interest listed under the Corine programme. Finally, the plans entail construction in
areas included in the National List of Sites as part of the Natura 2000 network pursuant to Directive 92/43/
EC (1) (site No 3, code 134-000 : mouth of the river Lima).

Moreover, the Portuguese authorities have publicly declared that they are not willing to study alternative
solutions put forward by various institutions, associations and public figures.

1.
Has an application already been made for co-financing of the construction of road and rail access to the
commercial port of Viana do Castelo? If so, will the Commission grant the application even if it is not
supported by environmental impact assessments made independently by autonomous bodies not linked to the
project promoters?

2. What contribution will the Commission make to ensure that alternative solutions to the current studies
and projects are analysed and given genuine consideration?

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.