WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1890/99 by Pietro-Paolo MENNEA Facilities to be built close to Castel del Monte
Date: 1999-10-14
Institutions: European Parliament, MENNEA Pietro-Paolo
Subjects: Italy, heritage protection, operational programme, suspension of aid, town planning

29.1.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 27 E/175

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 1999)

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat a table
containing the information requested.

(2000/C 27 E/217)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1890/99

by Pietro-Paolo Mennea (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Facilities to be built close to Castel del Monte

(14 October 1999)

The town Council of Andria in the province of Bari has approved a project which will involve the creation
of an area including facilities such as a ticket office, a book shop, a restaurant, various other services and a
car park in close proximity to the octagonal castle built for Frederic II of Swabia between 1240 and
1250 known as (cid:145)Castel del Monte(cid:146).

Its very definition as an artistic monument indicates that the castle and the hill on which it stands
constitute a single cultural asset, which Unesco has included on its list of world heritage sites.

It is quite clear that if the project is executed in its present form it will alter and cause unacceptable
damage to the integrity of this historic site and the surrounding landscape.

The project has benefited from EU funding, as it is one of the projects financed to develop and exploit
tourism in Objective 1 regions (multi-regional operational plan for the Italian Mezzogiorno).

Can the Commission say whether the project has been the subject of the required opinions from the
competent authorities, in particular the Bari Environmental, Architectural and Artistic Heritage Office and
the Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities;

Whether it intends to take steps to block the funding earmarked by the European Union, in order to
ensure that the execution of the project is suspended in accordance with the relevant Italian conservation
law and the European legislation designed to cover such cases?

Can it also say whether it intends to make European funding subject to an appropriate modification of the
project, whereby the envisaged facilities and car park would be moved downhill in order to preserve the
local landscape and the beauty of this artistic and historic monument?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(27 October 1999)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its
findings as soon as possible.

(2000/C 27 E/218)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1912/99

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 October 1999)

Subject: Substandard road construction funded by the 2nd Community Support Framework for Greece

In reply to my previous question (P-3016/98) (1), the Commission acknowledged that there were wide-
spread problems with substandard road-building in Greece funded by the 2nd Community Support
Framework and assured me that it would monitor the question closely and would not fail to apply the
relevant Community rules, if necessary.