WRITTEN QUESTION E-1984/01 by Dorette Corbey (PSE) to the Commission. Implementation of Habitats Directive.
Date: 2001-07-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Netherlands, application of EU law, location of industry, protected species

C 40 E/154

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.2.2002

(2002/C 40 E/166)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1984/01

by Dorette Corbey (PSE) to the Commission

(6 July 2001)

Subject: Implementation of Habitats Directive

A decision was taken in the Netherlands to route the A73 trunk road between Maasbracht and Venlo
along the east bank of the Maas. In the meantime a great deal of publicity has been created around a whorl
snail (vertigo moulinsiana) population living within the area on the east bank. The whorl snail is listed in
Annex 4 to the Habitats Directive.
It is not to my knowledge known where any other whorl snail
populations are to be found.

Is the Netherlands government required first to chart the population-spread of Annex-4 species

1.
before the survival of a population can be threatened by infrastructural development?

An industrial estate is being constructed in the area between Heerlen and Aachen. That same area houses a
population of hamsters. There exists a hamster protection plan in the Netherlands, but it is only being
implemented to a limited extent.

2.
Does progress with industrial estate development (cid:129) when considered against the background of the
low level of implementation of the hamster protection plan (cid:129) conflict with the Habitats Directive, which
refers to hamsters in Annex 4?

There has been much debate in the Netherlands about the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive,
opponents of which see little enough reason in the mere presence of a snail or a hamster to go so far as to
cancel a planned construction project. Nature conservationists are forced onto the defensive from the
outset.

3. What can be done to ensure that the road will even so be diverted? How can the Commission help to
ensure a diversion in good time?

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

(6 September 2001)

The Commission is currently investigating the facts raised by the Honourable Member in order to assess
the compatibility of the construction of Highway A73 with Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992
on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (1). The conservation of the whorl snail
in the Netherlands is one of the subjects of this investigation.

This species is mentioned in Annex II and Annex IV (a) of Directive 92/43/EEC.

Pursuant to Article 4(1) of Directive 92/43/EEC each Member State shall propose a list of sites in respect of
the species in Annex II that are native to its territory and which the sites host.

Pursuant to Article 12(1) of Directive 92/43/EEC Member States are obliged to take the requisite measures
to establish a system of strict protection for the animal species listed in Annex IV(a) in their natural range.

The hamster is an animal species mentioned in Annex IV(a) of Directive 92/43/EEC.

The Commission is aware of the potential risks which the Aachen/Heerlen industrial development entails
for the conservation of the local hamster population, and is taking all necessary steps to ensure that
applicable Community environmental law and Directive 92/43/EC on the conservation of natural habitats
and wild fauna and flora are fully respected in this case.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.