WRITTEN QUESTION E-0728/00 by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland.
Date: 2000-03-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Finland, Sweden, engineering structure, environmental impact, impact study, power plant, public health, water pollution

C 113 E/2

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2001

10 February. Their seats remained empty during the speech. After Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, Chairman-in-
Office of the OSCE, had finished speaking, the diplomats returned to the meeting.

At an informal meeting of EU Ministers in Lisbon on 11 February the Employment Ministers of Belgium
and France left the room as soon as their Austrian colleague took the floor.

Belgium and France are clearly at great pains to introduce a new form of cooperation and a new culture of
political dialogue in European and international relations. They ascribe their strategy of exclusion to their
concern that human and minority rights may be in danger in Austria because of the involvement of the
Freedom Party (FP(cid:214)) in the new centre-right government in Vienna.

The following questions arise in this context:

1. Does the Council intend to accept this form of cooperation from now on, whenever it sees fit?

2. The EU special summit on employment policy in March was to have been prepared at the informal
Council of Employment and Social Ministers. Will important political issues (cid:129) of which the employ-
ment policy is a prime example (cid:129) be pushed aside by France and Belgium in the future as soon as the
opportunity arises for a hitherto very reliable partner to be excluded in a way that attracts publicity?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0645/00 and E-0646/00

(20 November 2000)

The measures to which the Honourable Member refers were announced in a statement made by the
Portuguese Prime Minister on behalf of the Governments of 14 Member States. That statement is not
binding on the Council.

The Council has not taken a view on this issue and is not therefore in a position to reply to the questions
raised by the Honourable Member.

(2001/C 113 E/003)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0728/00

by Jonas Sj(cid:246)stedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 March 2000)

Subject: Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland

There is considerable concern in northern Sweden that the Vuotos dam construction project in northern
Finland may damage the environment by greatly increasing emissions of nutrients and heavy metals into
the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is feared, inter alia, that the methyl mercury load may increase
by 20-30 %. Naturally, the level of mercury in Swedish fish would rise too. It is intended to flood
240 square kilometres of marshland. Various Swedish authorities have protested about the construction
plans.

Has the Commission had occasion to study this project, and have any checks been carried out as to
whether it meets the requirements in the EU(cid:146)s Environmental Impact Assessment Directive?

18.4.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 113 E/3

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2000)

The Commission is aware of the Vuotos power plant and artificial lake project for which the Water Court
in Northern Finland has recently (29 February 2000) granted a construction permit. According to the
information in the press, the decision will be subject to appeals.

Although projects such as this in principle fall under Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on
the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (1), Member States
are not obliged under this Directive to cover projects for which consent procedures have been initiated
before the deadline of implementation which was 1 January 1995 for Finland (see case C-362/92, Bund
Naturschutz in Bayern, paragraph 19, and C-431/92 Commission v. Germany, paragraph 29). The
application for the Vuotos project was lodged in 1992. The Finnish authorities have informed the
Commission that the Finnish Act of Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures excludes projects for
which public hearing has been carried out before 14 January 1994, such as the Vuotos project.

In any event, the environment impacts of nutrients and heavy metals arising from the project have been
assessed in the context of the permit procedure under the Finnish Water Act. The decision granting the
construction permit analyses the estimated effects of the artificial lake on the water quality and fish in the
artificial lake itself, in the river Kemijoki and in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is estimated
that the water quality and recreational fishing will be disturbed, among others, by increased level of
nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, but that the effects will concentrate on the artificial lake
itself and on the river downstream, being relatively minor in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia.
Further, it is estimated that the levels of mercury in certain fish species (pike, perch, burbot) will during the
first 8-15 years after the construction increase considerably (over 1 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) in the
artificial lake itself, significantly (between 0,5 and 1,0 mg/kg) in the Kemijoki river, but in a lesser degree
in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. The Water Court pointed out that the health damage can be
avoided by monitoring and informing the public about the situation. Further, it was estimated on the basis
of the studies carried out that it is unlikely that the mobilisation of other heavy metals would have effects
similar to the mobilisation of mercury. The Water Court ordered the applicant to assess further and
monitor the effects on fisheries and fish.

According to the information the Commission has received from the Finnish authorities, Finland has
during the permit procedure informed the competent Swedish authorities about the estimated environ-
mental effects of the project in the Swedish side.

Accordingly as at presently informed, the Commission does not have any reason to take measures
concerning the environmental impact assessment procedures carried out in this project. The Commission
will continue to follow the on-going procedures at the national level.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(2001/C 113 E/004)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1039/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(4 April 2000)

Subject: Social and economic measures to reduce the pig population in Flanders

In late February Mrs Margot Wallstr(cid:246)m, Commissioner with responsibility for the environment, said in her
answer to written question E-2686/99 (1) that she was aware of the serious problems facing the Flemish
Region because of the presence of considerable quantities of phosphorous and nitrogen.