WRITTEN QUESTION E-0008/02 by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Mine prospecting permits in Sardinia and environmental impact assessments.
Date: 2002-01-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Sardinia, co-financing, environmental impact, mineral prospecting, project evaluation

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18.7.2002

freezers from 1 January 2002. As CFCs are very destructive to the ozone layer, and since the foam
contains approximately 75 % of the CFCs and the cooling system only 25 %, Article 16(3) required CFCs to
be recovered from products such as foam if practicable from 1 October 2000.

The United Kingdom questioned, very soon after the regulation came into force, the practicality of
extracting CFCs from foam insulation in refrigeration as the answer influenced the United Kingdom’s
implementation of this regulation in two key areas.
If recovery of CFCs from foam was considered
practical, the United Kingdom would be required to not only establish recycling and recovery facilities
from 1 January 2002 but also to ban the considerable United Kingdom export trade, from 1 October
2000, of used refrigerators containing CFCs in the foam. Article 11 specifically bans exports from the
Community of products containing CFCs as the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty on ozone layer
protection, strongly discourages exports that would increase the dependency of developing countries on
old technology.

The subject of recovery of CFCs from refrigeration equipment was discussed at
the Management
Committee Meeting on 4 October 2000, meeting for the first time under Article 18 of the regulation just 4
days after Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 came into force. The Management Committee was chaired by
the Commission. The Minutes of the Meeting, approved by all the Member States including the United
Kingdom, recorded that the Committee agreed that foam-containing CFC was classified as a ‘product’ and
therefore Article 16(3) was applicable. Article 16(3) calls for recovery of CFC from foam, if practicable.
Several Member State representatives stated that recovery from foam had been practicable for many years
and cited commercial recycling facilities in operation where the United Kingdom could ship used
refrigerators for recycling if necessary.

The Commission held a further meeting with the United Kingdom and other Member States, at the request
of a representative of the United Kingdom government, on 24 January 2001 in Brussels to discuss the ban
on the export of refrigerators containing CFCs. At this meeting, the United Kingdom continued to question
the practicality of recovering CFCs from the foam of used refrigerators, despite continued assurances from
other Member States that they had commercial facilities in place. The Commission therefore agreed to
undertake a survey of Member States to determine Community commercial, refrigerator recycling activities.
The survey results reported to Member State representatives at the next Management Committee Meeting
on 13-14 March 2001 confirmed commercial recycling activities for recovery of CFCs from foam and
cooling systems were operating in a number of Member States including Italy, Germany, Denmark and
Sweden.

The United Kingdom government was therefore first informed on 4 October 2000 that it was practical to
recover CFCs from both the cooling system and foam in used refrigerators. The Commission notes that the
United Kingdom government has recently put in place procedures to promote compliance with this aspect
of the regulation.

(2002/C 172 E/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0008/02

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(17 January 2002)

Subject: Mine prospecting permits in Sardinia and environmental impact assessments

On 15 November 2001 the Sardinia Autonomous Region issued yet another permit (see my previous
question of 19 March 2001) for mine prospecting activities (bentonite) covering an area of 670 ha. in the
area of special archaeological value of Is Bangius (Gonnesa commune, Cagliari) to the Argilliti srl company.

This prospecting permit was issued without an environmental impact assessment having been carried out,
as required under Annex I, point 19 of Directive 97/11/EC (1) and the resulting Italian legislation
(Article 1(1)(u) of the Presidential Decree of 11 February 1998), and this case, like so many previous cases,

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was reported to the national, Community and regional authorities by the environmental organisations
Friends of the Earth and the Legal Intervention Group.

The Commission:

B Is it aware of the above?

B Will

it check whether environmental

impact assessment requirements have been respected in the

above case?

B Is it prepared to take the necessary measures in this respect?

B Is Community funding to be granted to the above mining activities?

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2002)

Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and
private projects on the environment (1), establishes that projects which are likely to have significant effects
on the environment by virtue of their nature, size or location, are made subject to an assessment of their
effects (environmental impact assessment B EIA). Classes of projects covered by the directive are listed in
the two annexes. Projects listed in Annex I require an EIA procedure. Under Article 4(2), projects of the
classes listed in Annex II are made subject
their
characteristics so require.

to an EIA, where Member States consider that

Pursuant
to Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (2), for projects listed in
Annex II, Member States are obliged to determine through a case-by-case examination or on the basis of
thresholds or criteria set by the Member States whether the project is to be made subject to an EIA.
However, projects where requests for development consent were submitted to an authority before
14 March 1999 are governed by the provisions of Directive 85/337/EEC prior to the amendments.

On the basis of the information given by the Honourable Member, the work to which the question refers
could fall either under the scope of paragraph 2 (extractive industry) of Annex II to Directive 85/337/EEC
prior to the amendments, paragraph 19 (Quarries and open-cast mining where the surface of the site
exceeds 25 hectares, or peat extraction, where the surface of the site exceeds 150 hectares) of Annex I to
Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Directive 97/11/EC, or paragraph 2 (extractive industry) of Annex II
to Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Directive 97/11/EC.

In the specific case, as it is not aware of the situation described by the Honourable Member, the
Commission will take the appropriate steps in order to gather detailed information about it and to ensure,
within the limits conferred on it by the Treaty, compliance with Community law.

Should the Commission receive information that Community law is being breached in the specific case, it
will not hesitate, as the guardian of the Treaty, to take all necessary measures, including infringement
in order to ensure compliance with the relevant
procedures under Article 226 of
Community law.

the EC Treaty,

According to the information received from the Italian authorities, the mine prospecting referred to by the
Honourable Member does not benefit from Community funding but from national funds granted under
Italian law No 752/82.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.