WRITTEN QUESTION E-1707/01 by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Road link between Vic and Olot (Catalonia, Spain).
Date: 2001-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Cohesion Fund, Spain, application of EU law, environmental impact, environmental law, environmental protection, impact study, road building

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reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s Written Question E-716/01, such research could be located, on the one
hand, within the priority areas on (cid:145)food safety and health risks(cid:146) and (cid:145)sustainable development and global
change(cid:146), and, on the other hand, within the activity (cid:145)anticipating the Community(cid:146)s scientific and
technological needs(cid:146).

In both cases, the details of calls to be launched will depend on the development of work programmes,
which can only be carried out following the decisions of Parliament and Council on the framework
programme and on the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities and
the decisions of Council on the specific programmes.

Criteria for the selection of projects within the Fifth framework programme for RTD are published in the
calls for proposals and the associated work programmes. An evaluation manual has also been published,
providing generic information on the approach to proposal evaluation and selection. The basic
criteria against which proposals are judged throughout the Fifth framework programme are their scientific
and technological excellence, their European added value, their relevance to economic and societal needs
and the quality of management. For the next framework programme, the Commission has proposed to use
criteria related to the objectives of the programme, scientific and technological excellence, Community
value added and management capacity.

With respect to the research carried out under the proposed heading (cid:145)anticipating the Community(cid:146)s
scientific and technological needs(cid:146), it will be important to distinguish between the allocation of resources
to research topics, which could include topics for research in support of
fisheries policy, and the
subsequent allocation of funds within particular topics to individual projects, following calls for proposals.

As an initial step, a series of priorities will be determined, reflecting the foreseeable needs for research in
support of Community policies and at the leading edge of knowledge. Subsequently, allocation of resources
to research topics will be done by means of an annual procedure, briefly described in the Commission(cid:146)s
previous answer, which will start with the publication of a (cid:145)call for expressions of interest(cid:146) to which, for
example, the scientific and industrial community can respond. The criteria applying to the selection of
topics will include the contribution of the proposed topics to the definition and development of policies;
their potential contribution to Community competitiveness, strengthening the scientific and technological
basis of Community industry, and the creation of the European Research Area; and their scientific
relevance and feasibility.

As topics are selected in this way on an annual basis, they will be taken up in the work programme, and
serve as the basis for future calls for research proposals. Proposals will then be selected according to clear,
published criteria in line with current practice as described above.

The internal user group will consist of representatives of
the
Commission that are concerned with, or have an interest as users of research. It will be chaired by the
Director General of the Research DG and will draw on the experience of the inter-service users(cid:146) group
established in January 2001 by the Commission for the Joint Research Centre. As regards consultation of
high-level independent scientific and industrial experts, this is already provided for within some policy
areas in the Commission. In addition, to help with advice on the overall balance of research topics, the
Commission has recently established the European Research Advisory Board which could be called on to
help with such advice.

those Directorate Generals (DGs) of

(2001/C 364 E/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1707/01

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

Subject: Road link between Vic and Olot (Catalonia, Spain)

(14 June 2001)

The proposed road link between Vic and Olot would effectively be a motorway and represents a serious
threat to ecosystems of high ecological value, in a mountain area with a damp climate and with woodlands

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and local plant species whose distribution in many cases meets its southern border there. The scheme
would entail major and irreversible environmental damage to an area characterised by cultivated fields set
in valleys with highly fertile soil and a landscape of remarkable beauty.

The proposed route also involves construction of the Bracons tunnel and would cross areas of natural
beauty included in the Natura 2000 network.

Does the Commission consider that the pros and cons of this infrastructural project have been weighed up
to their last consequences and that due account has been taken of the (cid:145)principle of prevention(cid:146) which
should prevail in the case of any public works scheme entailing serious damage to the natural and human
environment in a region?

Can the Commission state whether this scheme is to receive financing from the Cohesion Fund?

Does the Commission not consider that Directives 85/337/EEC (1) and 92/43/EEC (2), on environmental
impact and protected habitats respectively, should apply in this case?

What action can the Commission take to ensure compliance with the Community environmental
legislation 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

(23 July 2001)

The Commission is aware of the matters raised by the Honourable Member.

Following Written Question E-374/99 by Mr GutiØrrez Diaz (1), in 1999 the Commission in fact proceeded
to launch an own-initiative investigation to check whether the project in question infringed Community
legislation or not.

Following the request from the Commission for information in order to conduct this investigation, the
Spanish authorities forwarded the environmental
impact statement assessment concerning this project,
a whole series of measures to reduce the impact on local populations, compensatory measures relating to
agricultural
land and compensatory measures for flora and fauna, such as the financing of ecological
studies in the area and the drawing up of a special protection plan for rivers and areas affected by the
access to the Bra(cid:231)ons tunnel.

Given these circumstances and on the basis of the information forwarded, the Commission was unable to
detect any infringement of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural
habitats and of wild fauna and flora (2), nor 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 (3). It therefore closed its
investigation on 28 March 2001.

With regard to any possible co-financing of the link between Vic and Olot under the Cohesion Fund, the
Commission would ask the Honourable Member to refer to the answer given to Written Question E-4162/
00 by Mr Kn(cid:246)rr Borras (4).

(1) OJ C 341, 29.11.1999.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.
(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985 as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 (OJ L 73, 14.3.1997).
(4) OJ C 235 E, 21.8.2001, p. 83.