WRITTEN QUESTION E-4096/00 by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission. Environmental impact assessment of Linate airport (Milan, Italy).
Date: 2001-01-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, airport, common transport policy, environmental impact, impact study, pollution control measures

21.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 235 E/67

A draft strategy for sustainable energy in ACP States is being finalised. This highlights two main themes:
energy sector institutional and policy support and encouraging partnerships between the various actors,
and integrating sustainable energy into other development activities, recognising the role that energy can
have in contributing to the achievement of Community development objectives in other sectors. The draft
strategy highlights decentralised renewable energy and energy efficiency as especially important areas for
future development co-operation. It also outlines the essential role of the private sector and the need to
establish partnerships between the public and private sectors.

(1) COM(2000) 769 final.

(2001/C 235 E/072)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4096/00

by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(10 January 2001)

Subject: Environmental impact assessment of Linate airport (Milan, Italy)

Aware that:

(cid:129) in recent years, the volume of air traffic at Linate airport has increased considerably (61 932 flights per

day in 1970, 82 620 in 1980, 126 566 in1990 and 184 742 in 1997),

(cid:129) the airport is five kilometres away from the cathedral and only a few hundred metres from the second

ring road, which is now considered part of the city itself,

(cid:129) despite the significant urban development of the Milan municipality and the communes to the east
and south of the city, there has been an uncontrolled increase in the annual number of passengers
(currently 650 000) at Linate airport,

(cid:129) given the way in which these communes have developed, the airport cannot be allowed to expand any

further,

(cid:129) in accordance with Ministerial Decree 463 (Burlando decree) of 25 October 1998, some of the air
traffic has been diverted from Linate to Malpensa and it is planned that eventually only the Rome
shuttle (approximately. 80 flights per day) will remain at Linate,

(cid:129) the Bersani decree of 3 March 2000 supplemented and altered the air traffic arrangements, increasing

the number of daily flights from 80 to the present 220,

(cid:129) the European Community had commissioned Cranfield College of Aeronautics to carry out a survey,
which follows a request by the 11 foreign companies operating at Malpensa that the Community call
for an expansion of air traffic at Linate, bringing the number of daily flights to 350-400,

(cid:129) contrary to what is required by law, no environmental impact assessment has been carried out for any

of the changes made so far,

(cid:129) under the terms of Prime Ministerial Decree No 377 of 10 August 1988, which entered into force on
1 September 1988, Linate airport has been operating illegally since the 1992-1994 expansion,

(cid:129) Article 8 of Law No 447, of 26 October 1995, stipulates that interventions resulting in operations
which are substantially different from the preceding arrangements include any plans to develop or
expand airport facilities and that such facilities must therefore undergo an environmental
impact
assessment.

Does the Commission not consider that this situation constitutes an infringement of the rights of people
living in the area and a threat to the local environment? Does it agree that, before any decision is taken on
the future of Linate airport, an environmental impact assessment should be carried out on the present
situation and the likely impact of further alterations?

C 235 E/68

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

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

(15 March 2001)

It is primarily the province of the national authorities to implement texts requiring environmental action.
The Commission notes that the traffic at Linate airport has fallen over the last two years owing to the
restrictions placed upon it by the Italian authorities, who wish to promote Malpensa airport.

As regards Community environmental law and, in particular, the possible application of 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), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 (2), the question put by the
Honourable Member does not provide sufficient information to establish its relevance to the facts outlined.

Article 2 of Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended, states that Member States are obliged to ensure that, before
consent is given, projects likely to have significant effects on the environment are made subject to an
impact assessment (EIA). The Directive concerns (cid:145)projects(cid:146) and its aim is to prevent
environmental
pollution or nuisances at source by having the development consent
take into consideration the
environmental effects of the projects, rather than subsequently trying to counteract these effects. The
kinds of projects which are covered by the Directive are defined in Article 4, which refers to a list of
classes of projects included in Annexes I and II to the Directive.

On the basis of the information given by the Honourable Member, the Commission is neither in a position
to assess the nature of the enlargement works mentioned nor to consider whether they were relevant to
any class of the projects listed in Annex I or II to the Directive.

In addition, on the basis of the information given the above mentioned works appear to have been carried
out between 1992 and 1994. Of course, if a project, relevant to Annex I or II to the Directive, is granted
a development consent without complying with the EIA Directive an infringement is committed. However,
as mentioned above, it should be stressed that the purpose of Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended, is to
address situations in which works have not yet been carried out in order to prevent pollution or nuisances
at source. Therefore, the Directive contains no provisions to address situations in which the works have
been carried out and it does not provide any means of bringing such situations back into compliance with
its objectives.

As regards a possible future increase in air traffic, this is not, as such, a project which falls under Directive
impact
85/337/EEC and, consequently,
assessment.

it does not need to be made the subject of an environmental

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(2001/C 235 E/073)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4099/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(10 January 2001)

Subject: Linguistic discrimination in the European Union

As we move into the European Year of Languages, European organisations are increasingly uninhibited in
demanding that their candidates must be English mother-tongue. In this way they are openly discriminat-
ing against jobseekers with other languages. English is (cid:129) wrongfully (cid:129) acquiring the status of a dominant
language (and culture).

A flagrant example of discrimination against non-English speakers is the vacancy at the Council of
European Municipalities and Regions. This umbrella organisation is advertising for a (cid:145)native English-
speaker(cid:146) to head its information office in Brussels. As other job advertisements unfortunately make clear,
this is not an isolated case. The news weeklies European Voice and The Bulletin regularly feature vacancies
for non-governmental organisations and companies requiring (cid:145)English mother tongue(cid:146) as a qualification.