WRITTEN QUESTION P-2007/00 by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Impact of the air traffic generated by Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy.
Date: 2000-06-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, Lombardy, air traffic, airport, environmental impact, infringement of EU law

3.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/45

Reply

(10 November 2000)

The measures to which the Honourable Member refers were set out in a declaration made by the
Portuguese Prime Minister on behalf of the governments of fourteen Member States. That declaration is
not binding on the Council.

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

(2001/C 103 E/047)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2007/00

by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Impact of the air traffic generated by Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy

to the requirement

Since October 1998, there has been a considerable increase in air traffic using the Milan Malpensa airport
due to the transfer of a certain amount of air traffic from other airports (Milan Linate in particular) (1) and
the addition of further traffic generated by the allocation of completely new flights made possible by the
upgrading of the airport. Malpensa airport is currently authorised to handle an annual maximum of
12 million passengers (2). The TRN (trans-European network) Malpensa enlargement project of 1993,
which transformed the airport from a (cid:145)point to point(cid:146) to a (cid:145)hub(cid:146) and provided for traffic to be increased to
up to 24 million passengers per year and 1,25 million tonnes of goods per year, obviously constitutes a
substantial modification of
for a
the original 1987 project and so is subject
environmental impact assessment under the terms of Directive 85/337/EEC (3). The plan put forward on
25 October 1998 for the transfer of all traffic from Linate to Malpensa airport was vetoed at the time by
the Commission. Linate now retains one-third of the traffic (5.5 million passengers per year) whilst the
in addition to the existing 6 to 7 million
remaining two-thirds (11 million passengers per year),
passengers, have increased Malpensa(cid:146)s traffic to 17 to 18 million passengers per year. This is a flagrant
breach of the applicable legislation, which explicitly calls for an environmental impact assessment to be
carried out in the case of projects to enlarge existing facilities; the procedure in question, which was
belatedly begun in July 1998, has not yet been completed. The Italian government has sought to deny the
evidence of these statistics in its dealings with the Commission, whilst actually making provision for the
remaining traffic to be transferred from Linate to Malpensa from 25 October 1999 (4). This measure has
been deferred since, meanwhile, the Commune of Milan successfully requested that the traffic using Linate
be maintained whilst the Ministry of the Environment (5) took a negative view of the environmental impact
study submitted by SEA (6)
flights. The latest
developments include the decision of 13 December 1999 by the Prime Minister, Mr d(cid:146)Alema, which did
not take into due account the Ministry of Environment decree, the subsequent blocking of that measure by
the Commission, and finally the order issued by the Ministry of Transport for the partial transfer of
flights (7), against which the airlines are appealing, mainly on the grounds that it infringes the competition
rules.

increase in the number of

in support of

the latest

Does the Commission not agree that, as there has been an obvious infringement of Directive 85/377/EEC,
any provision which involves an increase in air traffic in terms of passengers and goods to above the levels
currently authorised (12 million passengers per year and 300 000 tonnes of goods per year) should be
halted until all the requirements laid down for the environmental impact assessment procedure have been
duly and fully met?

(1) Cf. Ministry of Transport decree DM 05/07/96 No 46-T and DM 23/10/97 No 57-T.
(2) Cf. Ministry of Transport decree No 903/1987.
(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.
(4) Cf. Ministry of Transport decree DM 09/10/98 No 101-T.
(5) Cf. Ministry of Environment decree DM 25/11/99.
(6) The company managing the airport.
(7) Cf. Ministry of Transport decree of March 2000.

C 103 E/46

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.4.2001

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

(20 July 2000)

On the basis of the information available to the Commission, no major changes had been made to the
project (1) (airport infrastructure) since its approval in 1987 (at which time the directive was not applicable
in Member States). According to Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public
and private projects on the environment, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) could only be required
prior to certain developments of the airport infrastructure (2).

The transformation of Malpensa airport into a hub airport in 1993 did not result in infrastructure
modifications. An increase in air traffic in terms of passengers and goods cannot be considered as a
project under Directive 85/337/EEC and, consequently, does not need to be made the subject of an
environmental impact assessment.

Under Community law, it is not relevant whether Member States apply provisions of their internal law
which go beyond those of a Community directive, provided that they are not breaching other Community
laws.

(1)

(cid:145)project(cid:146) means (cid:145)the execution of construction works or of other
For the purposes of Directive 85/337/EEC,
installation or schemes; other interventions in the natural surroundings and landscape including those involving
the extraction of mineral resources(cid:146) (Article 1).

(2) Article 2.1 of Directive 85/337/EEC.

(2001/C 103 E/048)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2008/00

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Environmental risk and cleaning up the Milazzo industrial area

In its reply to Oral Question No 53 H-0356/00 (1), the Commission mentions that it is currently examining
(cid:145)the proposal for (an) Operational Programme for Sicily(cid:146), which allocates resources to provide for measures
to clean up industrial areas.

What is the time-scale envisaged for approval of that programme?

Has the Commission received proposals from the Italian regional or national authorities?

Can the Commission provide a more explicit definition of the (cid:145)polluter pays(cid:146) principle?

(1) Written answer of 16 May 2000.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(14 July 2000)

The Commission is at the moment examining the operational programme for the Region of Sicily for
2000-2006 and will formally adopt it in the next few months.

Following approval the monitoring committee will adopt the programme complement. This will be the
basis for the action necessary for adoption of projects (calls for proposals). The proposals for specific
projects will have to be sent to the regional authorities responsible for programme management, who will
decide what projects to include.

The polluter-pays principle is that those who cause environmental damage bear the cost of avoiding it or
compensating for it. This means that reclamation of polluted sites should be financed by the polluters
insofar as they can be identified. Structural Fund contributions to site reclamation work have to take
account of this principle.