WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3542/98 by Concepció FERRER to the Commission. Reafforestation of areas damaged by fire
Date: 1998-12-01
Institutions: European Parliament, FERRER
Subjects: EU action, Mediterranean region (EU), afforestation, fire, fire protection

21.7.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 207/85

(1999/C 207/112)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3541/98

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL)
and Pedro Marset Campos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(25 November 1998)

Subject: ERDF assistance for the projected forestry biomass incinerator power-station at Salinas de Pisuerga

(Palencia, Spain)

In the answer given on 5 October 1998 to Written Question E-2145/98 (1) Mr Papoutsis maintained that the
projected forestry biomass incinerator power-station at Salinas de Pisuerga (Spain) was not in receipt of
assistance under the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund (point 2 of the answer).

On 13 April 1998, however, when replying to a question from Senator Heliodoro Gallego, the Spanish State
Secretary for Relations with the Cortes had said that the above project was being funded by ERDF assistance
totalling PTA 279 902 000 and a further subsidy of PTA 119 958 000 from the Spanish State budget.

In view of the discrepancy between the two answers, could the Commission supply the information in its
1.
possession concerning the ERDF assistance granted for the power-station, as indicated by the State Secretary?

Does the Commission not believe that it should clear up the matter as completely as possible, to enable

2.
European citizens to enjoy an unimpaired right of access to information?

(1) OJ C 135, 14.5.1999, p. 23.

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 1999)

The Honourable Member is reminded that the programming system under the Structural Funds is based on the
principle of subsidiarity; the Commission decides on the general scope (Community support frameworks),
based on which specific programmes are approved. With the exception of major projects, which are separately
identified in programmes, the authorities responsible for implementing them choose the projects to be funded.
The Commission gets to know more about the individual projects only when implementation starts, when it
receives annual progress reports and attends meetings of the Monitoring Committees.

In the case of the biomass incinerator at Salinas de Pusuerga, the Commission did not have any official
information when it received the Honourable Member’s Written Question E-2145/98 (1).
It therefore
consulted the Spanish authorities, who told it that the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) had
not contributed to this project.

The Commission has since received more detailed information from the authorities in question. The Ministry
of Industry has committed itself to granting ESP 400 million (ECU 2,4 million) to the project in question,
which would qualify for an ERDF contribution of ESP 280 million (ECU 1,8 million). No payment has as yet
been made, however.

(1) OJ C 135, 14.5.1999, p. 23.

(1999/C 207/113)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3542/98

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE) to the Commission

(1 December 1998)

Subject: Reafforestation of areas damaged by fire

There were numerous forest fires this summer throughout the Union’s Mediterranean region, especially in
Catalonia, where over 27 000 hectares were destroyed. The fires pose serious dangers in the form of
desertification and alterations to the ecosystem in areas already beset by natural handicaps, where timber
production is very often a vital means of subsistence.