WRITTEN QUESTION E-3051/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The cost of road projects in Greece.
Date: 2001-11-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community support framework, Greece, costing, road building, structural expenditure

C 160 E/56

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

(damage to human health,
Given the consequences in Spain of the use of silver iodide against hail
pollution of aquifers, rain shortages, impact on harvests, etc.), and given that the current revision of the
White Paper on Chemical Substances will lay the foundations of future Community policy in this area:

! Does the Commission intend to include silver iodide amongst the priority substances, with a view to

future legislation on chemical substances?

! Has the Commission assessed the risks posed by silver iodide within the framework of Regulation
(EEC) 793/93 (3), as Mrs Wallström suggested in her reply to questions E-3764/00 and E-4006/00?

! Have the Spanish authorities now informed the Commission of the Ministry of Agriculture subsidies

for the use of silver iodide against hail?

! Can the Commission guarantee that none of the money being used to subsidise this practice stems

from Community funds?

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 43.
(2) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 84, 5.4.1993, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(21 December 2001)

In its reply to written questions E-3764/00 by the Honourable Member and E-4006/00 by Mr Gasoliba I
Böhm on the use of silver iodide against hail, the Commission has already stated that:

! silver iodide is not a priority substance in the relevant Community’s reference lists;

! the substance does not fall within the scope of Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991
concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, (on pesticides), since it is not
deemed a phytosanitary substance.

As concerns the White Paper on the Strategy for a Future Chemicals Policy (1), the Commission is at
present carrying out consultations with technical experts,
industry, consumers and environmental
organisations with a view to drafting legislative proposals for 2002. At the present stage of development,
it is not possible to foresee how future legislation concerning Chemicals Policy will effect the use of silver
halide in the prevention of hailstorms.

The Spanish authorities have replied to the Commission’s request of information as regards the subsidies
granted for the use of silver iodide in the prevention of hailstorms. The Commission is now examining the
information provided by the Spanish authorities.

(1) COM(2001) 88 final.

(2002/C 160 E/063)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3051/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 November 2001)

Subject: The cost of road projects in Greece

In Greece it is widely assumed that major projects co-funded by the European Union are exceptionally
expensive compared to equivalent projects in other Member States. Can the Commission give comparative
statistics to confirm or refute this assumption? Will it, for instance, provide statistics giving the cost per
kilometre of roads in Greece and in other Member States with similar geophysical characteristics? By what
percentage have major road projects in Greece overshot their original budgets during the second CSF?
What is the corresponding percentage in the other Member States?

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/57

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2002)

The Commission does not have the information needed to make a valid cost price per kilometre
comparison between motorways
similar geophysical
characteristics. Numerous factors affect this price and the research needed to distinguish them would be
disproportionate to the result sought. The same goes for comparison of the percentages by which major
road works in the Member States during the period of the 1994-1999 Community support framework
(CSF) overshot their initial budgets.

in Greece and in other Member States of

We can however provide the Honourable Member with the following indications based on information
from the national authorities. The cost price per kilometre of a motorway with two lanes in both
directions varies in Greece from € 3 million under favourable geophysical conditions to € 30 million or
more where a tunnel is needed. For Germany and France the estimated cost price range is from € 6 million
to € 35 million in densely populated urban zones or where major engineering works are involved.

As regards the overshoot on initial budget for major road works in Greece during the 2nd CSF, it is
Member States that are responsible for compliance with national and Community law in the execution of
public works contracts. The Commission is not systematically sent performance data for all contracts under
this CSF, some of which are still in execution. It examines the conformity of management of contracts of
this type only if a complaint or a check indicates the possibility of irregularity.

(2002/C 160 E/064)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3053/01

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(5 November 2001)

Subject: Release of hostages

Amnesty International has announced that the Israeli Government and the Hizbollah in Lebanon are
holding hostages in defiance of the rules of international law and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.

What measures does the Commission intend to take to put an end to the use of hostages as a negotiating
chip, to give hostages access to the International Red Cross (which is a fundamental right of anyone
its commitments under the Geneva
arrested during an armed conflict),
Convention and, finally, to release all the hostages?

to oblige Israel

to respect

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(6 December 2001)

The European Commission strongly supports the upholding of the rule of law, and finds completely
unacceptable the taking of hostages by any country or organisation. The taking of hostages is against law,
and contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Member of the Commission responsible for External Relations received the families of the four Israelis
on 21 June 2001 at which he stated that ‘hostage-taking was unacceptable, to withhold information about
the well-being of the detained Israelis was wicked, and to deny access to them by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was indefensible’.