WRITTEN QUESTION E-0540/01 by Raimon Obiols i Germà (PSE) to the Commission. Environmental impact assessment of the plan to route a high-speed rail line through Santa Oliva (Tarragona, Spain).
Date: 2001-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, application of EU law, environmental impact, impact study, rail network

C 261 E/140

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.9.2001

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(5 April 2001)

In his order of 15 January 2001 in Case T-236/00 R Gabriele Stauner and others v. Parliament and
Commission, the President of the Court of First Instance finds in ground 49 as follows:

The fact that the framework agreement states that certain information may be provided only to the
parliamentary bodies listed at paragraph 1.4 of annex 3, namely the President of the Parliament, the
chairpersons of the parliamentary committees concerned, the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents,
does not strip individual Members of Parliament of their right to put questions to the Commission and
to receive answers from it, even where these involve the transmission of confidential information, as
was the case before the adoption of the framework agreement. It should be pointed out in this
connection that the Commission(cid:146)s discretion to decide whether to communicate confidential informa-
tion in its reply to a question put by an individual Member of Parliament under the third paragraph of
Article 197 EC and in accordance with the relevant provisions of Parliament(cid:146)s rules of procedure is not
affected even indirectly by the framework agreement.

This ground must be read in conjunction with grounds 50 and 51, which state as follows:

However, where a request for confidential information is made by Parliament, that is, by one of the
parliamentary bodies referred to in paragraph 1.4 of annex 3 to the framework agreement, the
forwarding of this information by the Commission is now governed by the provisions of
the
framework agreement. It follows that, at first sight, the framework agreement, which is confined to
regulating relations between the Commission and Parliament, has not changed the legal situation of
individual Members as regards their right under the third paragraph of Article 197 EC, does not affect
the right there established and thus has no legal effect on individual Members of Parliament.

The President of the Court of First Instance thus indicates that the framework agreement on relations
between Parliament and the Commission, approved by Parliament on 5 July 2000, does not alter the way
in which the Commission has to deal with questions put by Members of the European Parliament under
Article 197 EC. He also points out that the Commission has a degree of discretion to decide whether to
communicate confidential information in a reply to a question put under Article 197 EC.

Given these findings by the President of the Court, the Commission considers that it has nothing to add to
the replies it gave to the questions referred to by the Honourable Member or to the detailed information
that it has provided on this case on a number of occasions.

(2001/C 261 E/152)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0540/01

by Raimon Obiols i Germ(cid:224) (PSE) to the Commission

(23 February 2001)

Subject: Environmental impact assessment of the plan to route a high-speed rail line through Santa Oliva

(Tarragona, Spain)

The Commission has initiated an infringement procedure against Spain for failure to comply with the
Directive on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment
(Directive 85/337/EEC (1) as amended by Directive 97/11/EC (2)) in granting permission to build a railway
line linking Tarragona and Valencia.

In accordance with the aforementioned Directive, has the Commission looked into the specific case of
Santa Oliva (Tarragona), and the serious environmental impact and even greater socio-economic costs

18.9.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 261 E/141

involved in planning to route the LØrida-Barcelona stretch of the high-speed line through Santa Oliva? A
study conducted by the Santa Oliva town council has found that, were it to go ahead, the project would
directly affect 44 homes in the Cam(cid:237) dels Molins area, and indirectly affect 98 homes on the Sant Jordi
housing estate and 200 homes in the Les Pedreres area.

Therefore, bearing in mind the above facts, has the Commission also considered whether the planned route
through Santa Oliva is compatible with the stipulations of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 (3) laying down
general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks?

What measures does the Commission intend to take, should the route prove incompatible?

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 228, 23.9.1995, p. 1.

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

(24 April 2001)

The Commission recently received a complaint about possible misapplication 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, alleging shortcomings in the environmental impact assessment conducted on the planned
LØrida-Martorell high-speed rail line. This is being studied.

As regards the specific case of Santa Oliva, the Commission is analysing the content and implications of
the documents submitted by the town council.

The information supplied by the Honourable Member is not sufficient to draw conclusions about any
possible infringement of the abovementioned Directive.

The Commission has indeed initiated an infringement procedure against Spain for incorrect application of
Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the
environment in the case of the (cid:145)Las Palmas-Oropesa(cid:146) stretch of the planned Valencia-Tarragona line. This
particular stretch, which entails laying 13 kilometres of new track, had not been submitted for an
environmental impact assessment, as required by the obligations laid down in the Directive. However,
this infringement procedure does not concern the stretch mentioned in this written question.

The choice of routes submitted to the Commission for funding under Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95
of 18 September 1995 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field
of trans-European networks is exclusively up to the Member State.

(2001/C 261 E/153)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0549/01

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) and Vincenzo Lavarra (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Payment of aid to breeders of Podolica cattle

(27 February 2001)

The breeding of Podolica cattle is today an important sector of the livestock industry in the Basilicata area
and receives support under national and Community aid policies.

In some areas this activity is conducted in a proper and profitable manner, but in others it is having an
adverse effect on the environment (while in the former case the aid is actually used for breeding purposes
(cid:129) that is to say, meat production (cid:129) in the latter the activity is a (cid:145)front(cid:146) and is conducted almost exclusively
for the purpose of obtaining the aid payments available). The Maratea area comes into the latter category.