WRITTEN QUESTION P-2469/01 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Continuation of the Alemagna road link.
Date: 2001-09-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Alpine Region, EU financing, common transport policy, transport infrastructure, transport network

C 81 E/180

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

(2002/C 81 E/212)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2468/01

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(11 September 2001)

Subject: Spanish Government appeal to the Court of Justice against the recuperation plan for fisheries in

Community waters

The Spanish Government(cid:146)s response to a question from Guilherme Vazquez, a Galician BNG member of
the Spanish Congress, to the effect that it has lodged an appeal with the Court of Justice against the
fisheries recovery programme adopted by the European Union, flat contradicts the government(cid:146)s having
accepted, within the Council of Fisheries(cid:146) Ministers, that in 2001 there should be a 47 % cut in catches in
the sole, the Bay of Biscay and the West of Scotland, areas much frequented by the Galician fishing fleet. Is
the Commission aware of the Spanish appeal to the Court of Justice, and the arguments on which it rests?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(2 October 2001)

It is true that Spain has presented an application to the Court of Justice for the annulment of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1162/2001 of 14 June 2001 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of
hake in ICES sub-areas III, IV, V, VI and VII and ICES divisions VIII a, b, d and e and associated conditions
for the control of activities of fishing vessels (1) which has been registered under No C-304/01.

Spain has put forward as legal grounds for its application the lack of a sufficient legal basis for the
Commission to adopt
the principle of non-
the Regulation in question and, secondly, breach of
discrimination laid down in Article 12 (ex Article 6) of the EC treaty and the absence of justification for the
measures introduced by the Regulation.

The Commission will present, within the time set, its statement of defence in respect of the application.

(1) OJ L 159, 15.6.2001.

(2002/C 81 E/213)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2469/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 September 2001)

Subject: Continuation of the Alemagna road link

With reference to the Commission(cid:146)s answer to Question E-0814/01 (1):

(cid:129) does the Commission confirm in principle the statements it made in that reply?

(cid:129) has there been progress in the signing of the Alpine Convention protocol since the abovementioned

reply?

(cid:129) we hope that the Commission is not intending to concentrate on other projects in the Alpine area
despite the fact that there are already priority projects for this region, such as the Brenner Basis
Tunnel (point 1 of the 14-point list of trans-European networks), needing to be implemented as soon
as possible in order, for example, to deal with the increasing volume of transit traffic on the Brenner
route.

(1) OJ C 318 E, 13.11.2001, p. 126.

4.4.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/181

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(28 September 2001)

The Commission can confirm the statements contained in its reply to Question E-814/01 from
Mr Gobbo (1), in particular with regard to the non-inclusion of the (cid:145)Dorsale d(cid:146)Alemagna(cid:146) road link in the
trans-European transport network.

The Commission considers that the issue of whether this link should be included in the network raises the
more general question of what is appropriate transport policy in areas such as the Alps, which are traffic
bottlenecks and at the same time have a highly sensitive environment. In view of the forecasts for growth
in road traffic and the risks this poses to the Alpine valleys and their inhabitants, a highly sensitive issue in
some countries of the region such as Austria, the Commission considers that shifting the balance in favour
of rail transport is a high priority in the Alps, at least as regards transit and long-distance traffic.

This is why the White Paper on the common transport policy, adopted by the Commission on
12 September 2001 (2), devotes particular attention to sensitive areas, particularly in the context of the
policy on infrastructure charging and funding and on the trans-European network.

Furthermore, in June 2001, the Heads of State and Government meeting at the Gothenburg European
Council called on the Community institutions to adopt revised guidelines on the development of the trans-
inland waterways, short-sea shipping and
European transport network, giving priority to the railways,
intermodal operations. Consequently, the imminent legislative proposal on amending the guidelines is
likely to focus primarily on these transport modes.

Consequently, the development of road networks that do not already figure in the Community guidelines
adopted by Parliament and the Council
in 1996, e.g. the Alemagna link, should be considered on a
national basis and in the context of transfrontier cooperation between the countries concerned, since they
concern infrastructure close to the Austrian-Italian border.

With regard to other inland transport infrastructure projects in the Alps, the Commission still considers
that the absolute priority is to implement and take into service as soon as possible the two railway
corridors already identified in the 1996 guidelines, namely the Brenner route and the Lyon-Turin corridor.

Finally, with regard to the Transport Protocol to the Alpine Convention, the Commission has been
informed that the proposal for signature it presented at the beginning of 2001 is currently being studied
by the Council with a view to possible conclusion of the procedure under the current Belgian Presidency.

(1) OJ C 318 E, 13.11.2001, p. 126.
(2) COM(2001) 370 final.

(2002/C 81 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2470/01

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 September 2001)

Subject: Environmental protection measures applying to heavy vehicle traffic in the Alpine region

Until 2003 heavy vehicles belonging to companies based in EU Member States will be subject
to
restrictions when moving in transit through Austrian territory. The system is based on the payment of
ecopoints, which vary according to the environment-friendliness of the vehicles, and its object is to reduce
the pollution that they cause. Restrictions on TIR traffic are also in force on Swiss territory. Under the
agreement between the EU and Switzerland the weight limit for lorries is to be raised initially to 34 tonnes
and later, from 2005, to 40 tonnes. Pending that liberalisation Switzerland issues a limited number of
licences to the EU for TIR vehicles up to 40 tonnes on payment of an ecotax, which is being reinvested in
the projected new Swiss railway lines.