WRITTEN QUESTION E-0085/02 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Public access to Europe's wild areas.
Date: 2002-01-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European symbol, nature reserve, protected area, public awareness campaign

C 172 E/142

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

What efforts are made to ensure that Member States subject to rigorous scrutiny importers’ claims that
mahogany and other hardwoods come from sustainable sources?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2002)

The Community aims at promoting sustainable forest management and at promoting trade in forest
products originating from sustainably managed forests.

More specifically, the Commission has amended Annex C to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 (1)
following the listing of Swietenia macrophylla (big-leaf mahogany) by certain range states on Annex III of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This means
that Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru have to issue export permits when exporting logs, sawn
woods and veneer sheets and given that Costa Rica has requested the listing of all populations of big-leaf
mahogany in the Americas, other range states have to issue certificates of origin. For introduction into the
Community an import notification is also required.

The Commission is promoting the development of sustainable use of tropical forest wood resources in the
frame of its environment and forest development co-operation programmes. A considerable number of
actions funded under both the ‘bilateral’ co-operation instruments (government to government) and the so
called ‘thematic’ budget lines (where civil society organisations play a greater role) support efforts recently
undertaken in developing countries to introduce sustainable forest management systems and certification
of timber products. Among the most significant actions that the Commission has been supporting it is
worthwhile mentioning the Group of seven most industrialised countries Pilot Program to Conserve the
Brazilian Rain Forest, a comprehensive programme which includes, in addition to a specific sustainable
forest management component, support at policy level and capacity building in the area of monitoring of
land use, with particular emphasis on illegal deforestation. Another significant programme is the
Community-Indonesia Forest Programme, started in 1992, which contains projects on forest inventory,
fire prevention and control, sustainable forest management, and two large integrated projects,
for
conservation and sustainable forest management respectively.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by

regulating trade therein, OJ L 61, 3.3.1997.

(2002/C 172 E/147)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0085/02

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(25 January 2002)

Subject: Public access to Europe’s wild areas

Is it the intention of the Commission to promote legislation to extend or protect the public’s right of
access to Europe’s wild areas, and particularly to special areas of conservation within the Natura 2000
programme (where this is possible without risk or damage to species requiring protection)?

Is the Commission aware of any non-legislative initiatives being taken jointly by Member States to promote
this objective?

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/143

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(1 March 2002)

The Commission has no intention to promote legislation that would extend public rights of access to the
countryside across the Community. There are no relevant articles of the EC Treaty which provide for
Community competence in this area. The Commission is, nevertheless, keen to promote public awareness
and enjoyment of Natura 2000 sites, provided that this is managed to prevent disturbance of the nature
conservation value. Many of the projects that have been funded under the LIFE-Nature programme have
included significant elements related to visitor facilities and management, i.e. visitor centres, nature trails
and walkways and visitor information and education material.

In the framework of this year’s ‘Green Week’, the Commission is promoting, in association with Eurosite,
the pan-European association of nature site management organisations, a programme of ‘green days’ under
which Natura 2000 site managers are being encouraged to organise events on their sites aimed at the
general public, the objective being to raise public awareness of the importance of individual sites and the
Natura 2000 network as a whole. Depending on the outcome of this year, the Commission will consider
making this an annual event.

(2002/C 172 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0102/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(29 January 2002)

Subject: Answer to Written Question E-1393/01

Further to the Commission’s answer to Written Question E-1393/01 (1), will the Commission please specify
for each separate Member State in a table:

1.

2.

3.

the discount rate normally applied in the cost-benefit analyses;

the hourly rate attributed to time savings (with more than one if that is the case);

the savings attributed to reductions in fatalities?

(1) OJ C 364 E, 20.12.2001, p. 99.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(6 March 2002)

Discount rates, hourly rate attributed to time saving, and savings attributed to reductions in fatalities used
for infrastructure project assessment are established by Member States. The project ‘Socio-economic and
spatial
impacts of transport’ 4th Framework Transport Research Programme reviewed these values in
1997. A table from the report providing the raw values for the main categories is sent direct to the
Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

The Commission draws the attention of
that definitions and
measurements vary considerably among Member States. No direct comparison can therefore be made. The
above mentioned project has proposed harmonised definitions and measurements and results can be found
in the final report available from the Commission website (1).

the Honourable Member to the fact

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/extra/reports.htmlEUNET/SASI final report socio-economics and spatial impacts

of transport, contract ST-96-SC037 (found under the headline Strategic).