WRITTEN QUESTION P-3610/00 by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Tourist infrastructure in Valsesia and on Monterosa.
Date: 2000-11-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Regional Development Fund, Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, countryside conservation, environmental impact, tourist infrastructure

6.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/179

Given the budget limitations, the Commission cannot guarantee that all applicants which fulfil the
4.
minimum criteria set out in the guidelines will receive funding. The Commission ensures that the selection
procedure put in place by the cinema networks which receive funding is transparent and objective, and
that it is implemented in accordance with the approved guidelines for these networks.

5.
Funding for cinemas which screen European films is included in the actions planned for the MEDIA
Plus programme, as is funding for cinema networks. The methods for this action (direct funding or funding
via networks) will be defined in conjunction with the MEDIA Plus Programme Committee, which is
required to give its opinion on the matter as a management committee.

(2001/C 163 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3610/00

by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(15 November 2000)

Subject: Tourist infrastructure in Valsesia and on Monterosa

Talks currently under way between the authorities of the Piedmont region and the autonomous region of
the Valle d(cid:146)Aosta should soon lead to the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding on the
construction of a cableway between Valsesia and the Valle di Gressoney aimed at stepping up tourism
and skiing in the two valleys.

The project, which is apparently to be financed by Finpiemonte and the European Union, involves the total
overhaul of the facilities at Alagna Valsesia and the construction of a new transport link to the Punta
Indren glacier, described as a (cid:145)servizio di trasporto pubblico in concessione(cid:146) (concessionary public transport
service), to be built by Monterosa 2000 S.p.A.

The Upper Valsesia, the southern glaciers on Monterosa and the Valle d(cid:146)Aosta glacier area have been
designated sites of Community importance pursuant to Directive 92/43 (1).

The above project poses a potential threat to the collection of Natura 2000 sites around Monterosa, both
from an environmental and landscape viewpoint and in terms of road and town-planning requirements.

Among other things, the project:

(cid:129) makes no provision for parking facilities or road improvements, despite the large number of tourists

likely to be brought in by the new facilities;

(cid:129) makes no mention of where the water required for the artificial snow machines is to be collected;

(cid:129) does not include a study into where the waste water is to be discharged;

(cid:129) makes no mention of the electricity supplies required to operate the new ski lifts.

Does the Commission really intend to finance the construction of a cableway between Valsesia and the
Valle di Gressoney?

Can it take action to ensure that the aforementioned sites of Community importance are not threatened by
the project?

Can it ensure that the project complies with the Community environmental impact assessment directives?

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

C 163 E/180

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(22 December 2000)

The project referred to by the Honourable Member is part-financed under Objective 5(b) of the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of measure IV.2 in the single programming document for the
Piedmont region for the period 1994-1999. The total cost of the project is ITL 14 billion, of which the
Community share is ITL 4 943 billion.

Part-financing of this measure was conditional on a socio-economic evaluation and environmental impact
assessment carried out in 1997.

This project appears to be covered by class 12(a)
(Ski-runs, ski-lifts and cable-cars and associated
developments) of projects listed in Annex II of Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending
Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the
environment (1). In accordance with Article 4(2) of the latter Directive, Member States determine through a
case-by-case examination, or thresholds or criteria set by the Member State, whether the project is to be
made subject to an assessment in accordance with Articles 5-10. Member States may decide to apply both
procedures.

The sites mentioned by the Honourable Member are proposed sites of Community importance (pSCI)
under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild
fauna and flora (2), and special protection areas (S.p.As) under Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April
1979 on the conservation of wild birds (3). With reference to pSCI, Member States must act to ensure that
the aims of the Directive are not jeopardised. Even in the absence of a Community list of such sites,
Member States(cid:146) authorities are advised to abstain from all activities that may cause a site on the national
list to deteriorate. With reference to S.p.As any plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to
the management of the site, but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either individually or in
combination with other plans or projects, shall be subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for
the site in view of the site(cid:146)s conservation objectives.

In this specific case, the Commission was not aware of the situation described by the Honourable Member.
It will therefore take the appropriate steps in order to gather detailed information about it and to ensure
compliance with Community law.

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.
(3) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.

(2001/C 163 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3612/00

by Fran(cid:231)ois Zimeray (PSE) to the Commission

(15 November 2000)

Subject: EU financial aid to the Palestinian educational system

In a recently published report, a non-governmental organisation, the Centre for Monitoring the Impact of
Peace, has revealed that a number of schoolbooks published by the Palestinian authority are nothing less
than anti-semitic propaganda which, in any EU Member State, would be prohibited under the law on
(cid:145)incitement to racial hatred(cid:146). And yet, as a result of the 1993 Oslo agreements, the Palestinian educational
system receives massive subsidies from the European Union and its Member States, amounting to an
average of at least euro 20 milion per year.

The European Commission is asked:

1. To what extent has the aid provided by the European Commission directly or indirectly helped to
finance the publications listed below and any other handbooks liable to contain anti-semitic passages.
More generally, has funding by the Commission directly or indirectly contributed to the drafting,
printing, distribution, use and translation of some or all of their content?