WRITTEN QUESTION E-0102/02 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Answer to Written Question E-1393/01.
Date: 2002-01-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: accident prevention, cost-benefit analysis, project evaluation, public investment, report, transport accident, transport infrastructure

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).