WRITTEN QUESTION E-2732/01 by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. The SS 131 road linking Torres, Sassari and Cagliari.
Date: 2001-10-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, combined transport, common transport policy, environmental impact, impact study, road building, road safety

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/247

In European legislation, standardisation plays an important role in the so- called (cid:145)New Approach(cid:146)
legislation which was designed to establish the Internal Market for the free movement of goods within the
Community. In these cases, the European legislator, both the Parliament and the Council, has decided to
legislate on essential requirements a product must meet. On the basis of the legislation, the technical
specification of these requirements is left to the most concerned actors,
i.e. European standardisation
bodies. The legislative technique of the New Approach is also quoted in the recent Commission White
Paper on European Governance (1).

Harmonised standards must, of course, be in conformity with the legal requirements of the different
Directives adopted by the Parliament and by the Council.

For standardisation in the framework of the (cid:145)New Approach(cid:146), Directive 98/34/EC of the Parliament and of
the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of
technical standards and regulations and of rules on information services recognises three European
standards bodies (CEN, Cenelec and ETSI), covering three different areas of industry.

The standardisation system must be truly open and transparent, the standard supported by all major
interested parties, and applied in a uniform way throughout the Community. These requirements are
referred to as the accountability of European standardisation. Principles of accountability have been laid
down in the (cid:145)General Guidelines for Co- operation between CEN, Cenelec and the Commission(cid:146), adopted in
1984. (CEN and Cenelec are European standards bodies.)These guidelines are currently under revision.

Compliance with the conditions for accountability is linked to the recognition of bodies as European
standard bodies under Directive 98/34/EC. Conversely, non- compliance may lead to the withdrawal of
recognition. Accordingly, following Articles 2(5) and 6(4a) of Directive 98/34/EC, the Commission is
entitled to propose to the Council to deprive a standard body from its status.

Moreover,
in order to ensure the broadest possible participation of stakeholders within the standard
developing process, the Commission provides financial support to non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
representing stakeholders such as consumers and environment to enable them to participate as associate
members of the standards bodies in the standard developing process.

Finally, in the framework of the New Approach, the Commission and the European standards bodies have
jointly appointed consultants, who assess, within the framework of the internal procedures of the standard
bodies, the formal and substantial adequacy of a standard with regard to the legal requirements.

(1) COM(2001) 428 final.

(2002/C 40 E/271)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2732/01

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(5 October 2001)

Subject: The SS 131 road linking Torres, Sassari and Cagliari

The SS 131 between Porto Torres, Sassari and Cagliari, the main road link between the north and south of
Sardinia, has for many years been inadequate and unsuitable to meet the present needs and is very
dangerous because the lanes are narrow and there is a great deal of heavy goods traffic.

The modernisation work being carried out on this road (1) is, however, highly controversial. The projects
entails the pointless total destruction of
the existing carriageway (about 17 m wide) and its total
reconstruction at a higher level, with new gradients, less steep slopes and a carriageway more than 34 m
wide (4 lanes 3,5 m wide, two hard shoulders 3 m wide, a central reservation 2 m wide, two service roads
for local use, each with two lanes in both directions, accounting for another 12 m). Furthermore, although

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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14.2.2002

the work has barely started, it is causing great inconvenience for road users, with unexpected, badly sign-
posted detours onto improvised single-lane roads, creating the conditions for serious and even fatal
accidents.

Can the Commission ascertain:

1. whether an environmental impact procedure has been carried out for the projects in question;

2. whether the records of this procedure indicate any concern for the devastating impact of the works,

which divert heavy traffic onto a temporary single-lane road;

3. whether at the planning stage the investigating authorities ever assessed the possibility of bringing the
road up to motorway standard by simply doubling the width of the existing road, without destroying
the existing carriageway, which has substantially increased the cost of the infrastructure for the local
authority? In other words, has the possibility of building the motorway on two separate carriageways,
only one of which would be newly built, the other being created from the four existing lanes, been
considered;

4. whether any Community funding was granted for this modernisation work? If so, does the
that an inquiry should be opened to ascertain why the existing

Commission not consider
infrastructure was destroyed;

5. with regard to the sections still at the planning stage, in particular beyond Oristano/Macomer and in
the vicinity of the Olbia junction, whether the Italian Government and ANAS (National Roads
feasibility of coordinated road-rail planning, allocating a
Authority) have assessed the technical
proportion of the new motorway carriageway to a completely new railway line, which could be built
at practically no extra cost and environmental impact, since they are already included in the cost of
the motorway (2).

(1) The Sardar-Villanovaforru section, from km 47 to km 58 (cid:129) ITL 50 billion; the Mogoro section, from km 58 to km
65 (cid:129) ITL 58 million; the Uras stretch, from km 65 to km 69,5, first and second sections (cid:129) ITL 39 and 35 billion;
the Uras-Macomer stretch, second section, from km 75 to km 79 (cid:129) ITL 34 billion.

(2) Except for a 100 km section between Cagliari and Oristano, the Sardinian railways (belonging to the Italian State

Railways network) currently have commercial speeds of less than 70 km per hour!

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(31 October 2001)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its
findings as soon as possible.

(2002/C 40 E/272)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2785/01

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(1 October 2001)

Subject: Naming places after the Twin Towers

On 11 September the world was shaken by an event whose horror could never have been imagined. The
EU recognises the primary and fundamental value of
the
Commission request that Member States name a site, streets or squares in their cities after the Twin Towers
to ensure that people in Europe continue to reject terrorism and defend the right to life?

life, which everyone must respect. Will

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(18 October 2001)

The matter in question does not come within its jurisdiction of the Commission.