WRITTEN QUESTION E-3687/01 by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. Community funding for regasification plant at the bay of Ferrol (Spain).
Date: 2002-01-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Spain, gas industry, location of industry, natural gas

C 134 E/246

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

(2002/C 134 E/261)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3687/01

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(17 January 2002)

Subject: Community funding for regasification plant at the bay of Ferrol (Spain)

The company Regasificadora del Norte S. A. (Reganosa) is promoting a project for the creation of a
liquefied natural gas plant at Punta Promontoiro, on the inner side of the narrow bay of Ferrol (Ría de
Ferrol) in Spain. This major project would entail the construction of four tanks of 150 000 cubic metres,
and would also mean the entry each year of over 40 methane tankers (dimensions: 280 m x 42 m x
12-13 m).

Reganosa is in receipt of financing from the Galician regional government as well as from the companies
Unión Fenosa, Endesa and Mugardesa de Energía, S. A.

The project has met with widespread rejection from the local community, and the Ferrol city council has
declared itself against. A number of citizens’ organisations have filed complaints with the Commission’s
in view of the severe risks of such an industrial
DG Environment and DG Transport and Energy,
development in this area. The Ferrol city council believes the plant could be located within Ferrol’s
projected outer port complex (this was in fact the original option). Nonetheless, the location currently
proposed, i. e. the inner side of the bay, is a densely populated area which is only one kilometre from the
built-up area of Mugardos and Ferrol. This location means that the plant could become a real accident
trap: displacement would be virtually impossible, and the methane tankers could only put to sea at high
tide. The proposed site of the regasification plant would border on such existing installations as fuel tanks,
military vessels and a military arsenal, and there could be a domino effect in case of accident, with
unforeseeable consequences.

Is this project, or has it ever been, in receipt of Community funding of any kind? Has any request for
funding been received? If so, what amounts were asked for, and from which of the Community Funds?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(22 February 2002)

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

(2002/C 134 E/262)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0092/02

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Sales promotions in the internal market

(17 January 2002)

The Commission recently published a proposal for a regulation concerning sales promotions in the
internal market COM(2001) 546 final. How will the Commission take account of the concerns which small
and medium-sized businesses already have about the regulation and how can it ensure that the system of
continuous offers and discounts which it promotes will not prove damaging to such businesses, which do
not have the same capacity for mass markets and advertising campaigns as large companies?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2002)

The Commission analysed this area in detail before proposing the Regulation on sales promotions in the
Internal Markt. It adopted a Green paper in 1996 (1) and a follow-up Communication in 1998 (2). Many
companies, including small and medium sized firms and trade associations representing their interests,
complained about differences in laws within the Internal Market that were preventing the use and