WRITTEN QUESTION E-1146/01 by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Environmental aggression on the island of Lanzarote (Canaries, Spain).
Date: 2001-04-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Canary Islands, EU environmental policy, competence of the Member States, environmental impact, harbour installation, impact study, nature reserve

4.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 340 E/179

Is it also correct that there are Red Cross structures throughout Zimbabwe such as in Mberenqua East,
which have as their acting chairman Mr Shiri, a teacher at Zuishava in Mberenqua East, a perpetrator of
violence against MDC members, who was also arrested and charged, but is now a beneficiary of the
Mugabe amnesty and is once again agitating for violence in preparation for the forthcoming Presidential
election?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(31 May 2001)

Swithun Mombeshora is Minister of Transport and Chairman of the Zimbabwe Red Cross.

Mr Shiri is Deputy Headmaster of a secondary school in Mberengwa District. He was taken into custody by
police in connection with political violence carried out on behalf of the ruling party in Mberengwa in the
pre-election period, but was soon released and there has been no follow-up. Mr Shiri was on the
Mberengwa Committee of the Zimbabwe Red Cross. This Committee has been dissolved pending elections.

It is not the role of the Commission to judge individual nominations made at local and national levels by
the Zimbabwe Red Cross. I would suggest your queries are directed to the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

(2001/C 340 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1146/01

by Laura GonzÆlez `lvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: Environmental aggression on the island of Lanzarote (Canaries, Spain)

Unesco has declared the island of Lanzarote, in the Canaries archipelago, a biosphere reserve. Action by
the Canaries artist CØsar Manrique helped to preserve the island from attacks on its natural, landscape and
archaeological assets. Now, however, strong pressure from tourism is threatening to eliminate areas of
special ecological and cultural value.

The construction of (cid:145)Mar(cid:237)na del Rubic(cid:243)n(cid:146), a marina in the bay of Berrugo (Playa Blanca), has already
destroyed a part of an area of great natural and ethnographic value in the Lanzarote local authority of
Yaiza. The intertidal zone has a base of low sand and ridges, forming a perfect ecosystem for fish to lay
their eggs and feed, but thousands of tons of stone and gravel have already been deposited there, blocking
up the small beach via which small local boats used to go out to fish. Archaeological and historical
remains are also affected.

What action can the Commission take to ensure compliance with Directives 85/337/EEC (1) and 92/43/
EEC (2) on environmental impact assessments and the protection of natural habitats in this case?

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

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

(14 June 2001)

The Commission was unaware of the situation the Honourable Member refers to in her Written Question.

On the basis of the information received from the Honourable Member, the Commission has ascertained
that the area of the island of Lanzarote where the marina in question is to be built has not been classified
by the Spanish authorities as a special protection area for birds under Article 4 of Council Directive

C 340 E/180

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.12.2001

79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (1). Nor is it an area identified by the
scientific community as an (cid:145)important area for birds(cid:146) in the inventory prepared for the Commission in
1998 by national experts and Birdlife. Moreover, the Spanish authorities have not identified it as a site of
Community importance for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of
21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Therefore, as far as
nature conservation is concerned, this case appears to be a matter for the Spanish national and regional
authorities alone.

With regard to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of certain public and
private projects on the environment, it should be noted that Article 2 thereof provides that projects likely
to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location must be
made subject to an assessment with regard to their effects before development consent is given.

This provision applies to projects of the classes listed in Annexes I and II to the Directive. Annex II point
10(j) includes the construction of yacht marinas. Under the terms of Article 4(2) projects of the classes
listed in Annex II must be made subject to an environmental impact assessment where Member States
consider that their characteristics so require.

It should be noted that Directive 85/337/EEC was amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March
1997 (2). However, under Article 3(2) of Directive 97/11/EC if a request for development consent is
submitted before 14 March 1999 the provisions of Directive 85/337/EEC prior to amendment continue to
apply.

In any event, the Commission has contacted the Spanish authorities to ask for their comments on the
situation reported by the Honourable Member in this written question, so as to ensure that the applicable
Community law is complied with in this particular case.

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

(2001/C 340 E/206)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1147/01

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: GDP and public enterprises

1. What are the latest available figures for the share of GDP produced in each Member State by publicly
controlled or owned enterprises?

2. What was the equivalent figure for each Member State five and ten years previously?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(6 July 2001)

The European System of National and Regional Account (ESA 95), adopted in the form of a Council
Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 dated 25 June 1996 (1), does not foresee the collection of these data, and
therefore, there are not official and/or harmonised date available at the Statistical Office of the European
Communities.

The (cid:145)European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic
Interest(cid:146) has published on its website (2) a document titled (cid:145)the development of enterprises of public
in which some non-official
participation and of general economic interest
data related to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question are included.

in Europe since 1996(cid:146)

(1) OJ L 310, 30.11.1996.
(2) http://www.ceep.org/index.html.