WRITTEN QUESTION E-2894/01 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Overrun of original cost of building Attiki Odos.
Date: 2001-10-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, construction costs, road building

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/189

(2002/C 115 E/198)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2894/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Overrun of original cost of building Attiki Odos

(22 October 2001)

The Greek press reports that the cost of building the Attiki Odos (northern Athens ring road) has exceeded
Drs 1 trillion, whereas the contract signed in 1996 put the cost at Drs 420 billion plus Drs 150 billion in
compulsory purchases.

Has the cost of building the Attiki Odos actually increased? If so, for what reasons?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(14 December 2001)

On the basis of information given by the Greek authorities, the contract signed in 1996 between the Greek
State and the concessionaire for the construction of the Athens ring (Attiki Odos) provided for a price of
450 billion drachmas (bn Drs).

The project had to be modified subsequently to take into account decisions of the Greek courts to improve
environmental conditions in numerous cases (municipalities of Agia Paraskevi, Vrilissia etc). A number of
measures had to be taken (more tunnels, etc) which increased the cost and the construction time. A further
cost increase was the use of the Attiki Odos line by the railway and the metro in order to ensure an
enhanced rail connection with the new Spata airport, because of the 2004 Olympic Games.

In total, the additions to the initial contract amounted to Drs 288 billion. Fees paid to the concessionaire to
compensate for delays due to the above mentioned court decisions added up to Drs 67 billion.
Expropriations cost the Greek State Drs 277 billion (all the above figures are in current prices). This
explains why the budget for this project indeed reaches Drs 1 082 billion.

(2002/C 115 E/199)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2899/01

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(22 October 2001)

Subject: Fishing with drift-nets

Regulation (EC) No 1239/98 (1) sanctioned the abolition of drift-net fishing as of 1 January 2002 and the
technical document of the STECF of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Fisheries laid down the
parameters for assessing the impact on whales.

The document set out the technical procedures for limiting the impact, without calling for the abolition of
drift-net fishing, and also stressed that any provisions on drift-net fishing concerning the Mediterranean
Basin should, in order to be successful, have been extended not only to the Member States of the European
Union, but also all the other Mediterranean countries.

Finally, whilst the EU countries have abolished fishing with drift-nets, no similar provision has been
adopted by the countries of North Africa, which have, on the contrary, considerably increased the capacity
of the fleet practising this kind of fishing.

Any possible environmental benefit has been nullified and the European Union has paradoxically stopped
being a producer of swordfish and has started importing it from North African Mediterranean countries.