WRITTEN QUESTION E-1096/01 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Designation of Natura 2000 areas.
Date: 2001-04-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU law, access to information, environmental law, protected area

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/203

(2001/C 318 E/221)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1096/01

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(6 April 2001)

Subject: Designation of Natura 2000 areas

Since the Habitats Directive entered into force on 5 June 1994, the Member States have made various
proposals for the designation of their Natura 2000 areas.

It appears from the answer to Question E-0165/01 (1) that the Commission has received a number of
notifications pursuant to Article 6(4) relating to (cid:145)activities at locations not (yet) designated as Natura 2000
areas(cid:146).

Can the Commission provide a full list of:

1.

2.

the approved Natura 2000 areas,

the proposals for Natura 2000 areas in the 15 EU Member States which are still under consideration?

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 197.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1095/01 and E-1096/01
given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(13 June 2001)

Upon receipt of notifications from Member States about activities or plans at locations that were not (yet)
designated as Natura 2000 sites, the Commission has not issued any formal reaction. As the Commission
holds the opinion that designation of a site as part of the Natura 2000 network should be the first step in
the application of article 6 of the Habitats directive, Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the
conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (1), it has not kept any formal records of
notifications concerning non-designated locations.

The Natura 2000 network consists of two kinds of sites: Special Protection Areas (SPA(cid:146)s), designated
according to the Birds Directive, Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of
wild birds (2) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC(cid:146)s), which are adopted by the Member States after
having been selected from lists of proposed Sites of Community Interest (pSCI(cid:146)s) for each of the six
biogeographical regions of the Community, according to the provisions of the Habitats Directive and, in
particular, annex III of that directive.

The complete list of SPA(cid:146)s in the Member States is available on the website http://europa.eu.int/comm/
environment/nature/natura.htm, which also holds any other relevant information about the setting up and
the management of the Natura 2000 network.

Presently, the Member States have not yet submitted to the Commission a complete list, according to the
requirements of the Habitats Directive, of pSCI(cid:146)s for any biogeographical region of the Community. This
means that no SAC(cid:146)s have been adopted yet by any of the Member States.

The Commission currently holds lists of pSCI(cid:146)s (still to be completed) which have been submitted by the
Member States for each of the biogeographical regions covered by their respective territories. These
documents are covered by the (cid:145)rule of authorship(cid:146) expressly foreseen in the Code of Conduct on public
access to Commission and Council documents, adopted by Commission Decision of 8 February 1994. The
Honourable Member should thus request them directly from their authors. Once lists of SAC(cid:146)s are adopted
by Member States, they will automatically be made publicly available, but the responsibility for providing
the information contained in the lists of pSCI(cid:146)s lies exclusively with the Member States, as authors of these
non-published documents.

C 318 E/204

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

For the reasons explained above, the Commission must refer the Honourable Member to the respective
Member States for obtaining information about their proposed contribution to the Natura 2000 network.

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

(2001/C 318 E/222)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1104/01

by Nicholas Clegg (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 March 2001)

Subject: Foot-and-mouth disease

When was the European Commission first informed by the British Government, either formally or
informally, of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 May 2001)

Information on the first two outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Great Britain was provided by
telephone by the Chief Veterinary Officer of the United Kingdom, to the Head of the competent Unit of
the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection of the Commission, on 20 February 2001 at
about 21h15 (Brussels time) i.e. a few hours after the laboratory confirmation of disease.

About one hour later, after an exchange of views between the relevant Commission(cid:146)s officials on the most
urgent actions to be taken, all Chief Veterinary Officers of the Member States were informed by the
Commission via fax.

On 21 February 2001,
in collaboration with the United Kingdom, the Commission formally adopted
Decision 2001/145/EC of 21 February 2001 concerning certain protection measures with regard to foot-
and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom (1) as a safeguard measure, to forbid the dispatch from the
United Kingdom of the animals and animal products, which may potentially spread foot-and-mouth
disease virus.

(1) OJ L 53, 23.2.2001.

(2001/C 318 E/223)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1105/01

by Robert Goodwill (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 March 2001)

Subject: European Public Prosecutor

Recent Commission communications and European Parliament reports have called for the establishment of
a European Public Prosecutor(cid:146)s Office for the protection of the Community(cid:146)s financial interests.

If such an office were to be established, can the Commission clearly state that it will never attempt to
extend the Prosecutor(cid:146)s powers beyond the sole protection of the Community(cid:146)s financial interests?

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(2 May 2001)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its opinion of January 2000 and communication
of September 2000, in which it has undertaken to protect the Community(cid:146)s financial interests (1).