WRITTEN QUESTION P-1547/01 by Pierre Jonckheer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. CN-101 (formerly GU-117) road improvement project in the Carrascosa de Henares area.
Date: 2001-05-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Castile-La Mancha, EU financing, complaint to the Commission, environmental impact, infringement of EU law, road building

C 340 E/238

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.12.2001

sufficiently unbundled so that the beneficiary does not have to pay for network elements or facilities which
are not necessary for the supply of its services, and shall contain a description of the components of the
offer, associated terms and conditions, including charges.

Telekom Austria (TA), notified as having significant market power in the Austrian interconnection market,
has submitted to the national regulatory authority (NRA) a RUO of 22 November 2000, which is also
available on the NRA(cid:146)s website (2). For the time being, TA(cid:146)s RUO, however, does not include shared access
to the local loop. Consequently, there is a need for the incumbent to adjust its RUO to correspond to the
requirements of the Regulation. The regulatory authority has urged TA to modify its RUO accordingly
before 31 May 2001.

In the meantime, access to the local
loop(cid:146)s broadband spectrum for service providers appears to be
possible in the following ways: according to a decision of the Telecom Control Commission of 12 March
2001, service providers are entitled to have fully unbundled access to the local loop. The decision also
provides for the necessary collocation. Pricing for collocation is based on actual costs. Furthermore, TA
and the association of Austrian internet service providers (ISPA) have agreed on a standard wholesale offer
by TA to ISPs. TA has also put a standard wholesale offer on its website concerning bitstream access to
ADSL services on its local loop. According to the information available to the Commission, no ISP has so
far requested shared access from TA or launched a dispute settlement procedure before the national
regulatory authority.

The information on the Austrian situation is based on information publicly available on the national
regulator(cid:146)s website, data received directly from the Austrian regulator and information regularly provided
by the Austrian delegation in the ONP Committee.

The Commission is following very closely the implementation of the current legal framework in general,
and is aware of the complexity of pricing and collocation issues in many Member States. It will continue to
monitor the provisions relating to local loop unbundling in the Member States, in close co-operation with
the operators and service providers concerned, with a view to encouraging its full application throughout
the Community. The responsible Member of the Commission gave an up-date on the implementation of
the Regulation on local loop unbundling to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on 12 June
2001.

The Commission draws attention to the fact that a complaint has been filed with regard to the lack of
implementation of shared access in Austria which will be dealt with according to the Commission(cid:146)s
internal rules of procedures.

(1) OJ L 336, 30.12.2000.
(2) http://www.rtr.at/.

(2001/C 340 E/274)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1547/01

by Pierre Jonckheer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(14 May 2001)

Subject: CN-101 (formerly GU-117) road improvement project in the Carrascosa de Henares area

On 8 March 2001 the Commission replied to Question E-3712/00 (1) by Mr Paul Lannoye on the road
improvement works between the GU-177 and the district of Jadraque (Guadalajara), confirming that (cid:145)the
CN-101 (formerly GU-117) road improvement project received co-financing from the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) under the 1994-1999 Castilla-La Mancha operational programme(cid:146). However,
this project is having a damaging effect on the Natura 2000 (cid:145)Ribera de r(cid:237)o Henares(cid:146) site (LIC ES424003)
and on the groundwater of the river Henares, and has not been sujbect to an environmental
impact
assessment.

Does the Commission not consider it necessary to demand repayment of the European funding in
question?

4.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 340 E/239

What measures will it take to ensure that the law on environmental impact assessment is complied with?

What does it intend to do to ensure that the environmental damage already perpetrated on the (cid:145)Ribera del
r(cid:237)o Henares(cid:146) site (destruction of groundwater and consequent reduction in water supply; deafforestation) is
paid for and the original environmental conditions restored?

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 30.

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

(20 June 2001)

As indicated in its reply to Written Question E-3712/00 by Mr Lannoye, the Commission contacted the
Spanish authorities in the course of its examination of a complaint regarding the said road project.

The Commission asked the Spanish authorities to comment on the application in this particular instance 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), so
that it might determine whether the project is likely to have a significant effect on the site in question in
respect of the objectives of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural
habitats and of wild fauna and flora (3), in which case the procedure laid down in Article 6 thereof must be
applied.

The Commission is currently examining the Spanish authorities(cid:146) reply. It would clearly be premature,
therefore, to express any opinion as to whether Community law has been improperly applied in this
particular case.

Should Community law not have been observed, the Commission reserves the right to ask the Spanish
authorities to repay the co-financing which was granted.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(3) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2001/C 340 E/275)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1567/01

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(17 May 2001)

Subject: Corridor VIII

Can the Commission say whether the protocol has been signed by participating countries and the
Commission and whether the technical study has been launched on the status of infrastructure and on
priority requirements? What type of financial assistance, and how much, has the project already received
from all participants?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 2001)

The Commission strongly supports the development of all of the pan-European transport corridors by
negotiating with the associated parties and taking all of the political, technical and financial initiatives
needed in order to promote a background that is more favourable to transport activities on the European
scene.