WRITTEN QUESTION E-2794/01 by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Environmental transgressions in the Zuloko-Ibarreta wetlands (Baracaldo, Spain).
Date: 2001-10-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Basque Country, application of EU law, bird, degradation of the environment, environmental impact, humid zone, protection of animal life, protection of plant life, unauthorised dumping

6.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134 E/105

Community legislation governing radio products (including mobile telephone masts) obliges manufacturers
to ensure that they are safe. In particular article 3.1. a of Directive 1999/5/EC of the Parliament and of the
Council of 9 March 1999 on radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment and the
mutual recognition of their conformity (2) (the R & TTE Directive) obliges manufacturers to ensure, that
their products do not affect the health when used for their intended purpose. Article 7.2 of that same
Directive explicitly enables national authorities to impose restrictions on the use of radio products, e.g. by
prescribing minimum distances from the public, so as to ensure that telephone masts are appropriately
installed.

The Community has further provided guidance on the safety levels to be respected. On 12 July 1999 the
Council adopted Recommendation 1999/519/EC (3) to Member States limiting the exposure of the general
public to electromagnetic fields from 0Hz to 300Ghz. The full respect of the basic restrictions and
reference levels included in the Recommendation ensure users a high level of protection against acute and
long-term effects of non-ionising radiation emitted by such devices. The limits recommended include a
safety factor of 50 to cover possible long-term effects in the whole frequency range. Member States, in
accordance with the EC Treaty, may provide for a higher level of protection than set out in this
Recommendation. The limits were confirmed by the Commission Scientific Committee on Toxicology-
Ecotoxicology and the Environment in its new opinion on health risks associated with exposure to
electromagnetic fields published on the 30th of October, stating that: ‘the additional information that has
become available on carcinogenic and other non-thermal effects of radiofrequency and microwave
frequencies in the last years does not justify a revision of exposure limits set by the Commission on the
basis of the 1998 opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee’

Furthermore, European standards drafted by European Committee for Electro-technical Standardisation
(Cenelec) will, as requested by the Commission, ensure the compliance of devices put on the market with
the limits set up in the Council Recommendation. These standards will be recognised under Directive
1999/5/EC and replace national conflicting standards.

The Commission is providing some € 12,8 million to support research programmes (with a total value of
over € 32,5 million) on the potential influence of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on human health. This
research includes one specific project which covers aspects of possible health effects that might arise from
mobile phone base stations. This four year project has not yet reached half way but, as with other EMF
related research projects, co-ordination arrangements within the Commission have recently been revised to
ensure that research results will be widely disseminated as soon as they become available.

(1) OJ L 199, 26.7.1997.
(2) OJ L 91, 7.4.1999.
(3) OJ L 199, 30.7.1999.

(2002/C 134 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2794/01

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 October 2001)

Subject: Environmental transgressions in the Zuloko-Ibarreta wetlands (Baracaldo, Spain)

In recent days, several dozen lorries have been dumping earth, rubble and other inert matter in the
reedbeds and marshlands of the Zuloko-Ibarreta flats in the municipality of Baracaldo. This has done
irreversible damage to the environmental richness of these wetlands and its paludal vegetation, which
provide a nesting place for various species of bird which are found only in this type of habitat and which
are listed in the Catalogue of Endangered Species in the Basque Country. Many birds feed in these
wetlands, particularly insectivorous birds that feed on the abundant aphids in the reedbeds as they migrate
through the area or when they winter there. The importance of the wetlands as a place of rest, as feeding
grounds and as an area for the reproduction of migratory birds should also be noted.

C 134 E/106

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

In view of the obligations incumbent on the European Union pursuant to Directives:

D 79/409/EEC (1) on the conservation of wild birds,

D 92/43/EEC (2) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora,

D 85/337/EEC (3) on the assessment of

the effects of certain public and private projects on the

environment,

what measures can the Commission take to ensure compliance with these Directives by the competent
authorities in the case concerned?

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.
(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(28 November 2001)

The Honourable Member mentions three environmental directives which could, in her view, apply in the
context of an urban development project in the marshes and tidelands of Ibarreta-Zuloko (Barakaldo,
Bizkaia), Spain, and asks the Commission on the measures it intends to take to ensure that Community law
is complied with in this case.

The Directives mentioned by the Honourable Member are Council Directive 79/409/EEC, of 2 April 1979,
on the protection of wild birds, Council Directive 92/43/EEC, of 21 May 1992, on the conservation of
natural habitats and wild fauna and flora, and Council Directive 85/337/EEC, of 27 June 1985, on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment.

With regard to Council Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC, the Commission considers that they are not
relevant in this case since no Special Protected Areas, Sites of Community interest or priority habitats have
been identified in the area where the project is to be implemented. No such areas, sites or habitats are
therefore likely to be affected by the project. Furthermore, the Commission has verified within the
framework of the handling of a complaint relating to the same facts that the area has been used until 1987
as a landfill for dumping lindane. After restoration, the concentration of HCH in the soil is still high above
the guideline value for the conservation of ecosystems. In addition to that, the area supports three landfills
at present. As a result of these considerations, the Commission has concluded that the site is highly
impoverished.

Nevertheless, as alleged by the complainant, the midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) is the only species listed
in the Annex IV of the Habitats Directive likely to be found in this area. The Commission, however,
considers that this information has to be ratified given the poor environmental quality of the site.

Concerning Council Directive 85/337/EEC, as modified by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March
1997 (1), it should be noted that the project mentioned in this written question may fall within its scope,
since it is listed in Annex II thereof (point 10, b) ‘urban development projects, including the construction
of shopping centers and parks’.

With regard to projects of the classes listed in Annex II, these shall be made subject to an assessment, in
accordance with Articles 5 to 10, where Member States consider that their characteristics so require.
Among the elements that the Member States will take into account in order to decide whether a project
listed in Annex II is to be subject to an environmental
impact assessment, article 2 of the Directive
mentions criteria such as its nature, size or location.

It should be noted that the Council Directive 85/337/EEC as modified by the Council Directive 97/11/EC
applies only to the projects whose request for development consent was submitted to a competent
authority before 14 March 1999. Otherwise, the provisions of the Council Directive 85/337/EEC prior to
the amendments of the Council Directive 97/11/EC will continue to apply.

The Commission will not hesitate to take all the measures necessary to ensure that Community law is
complied with in this case.

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.