WRITTEN QUESTION P-0545/02 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Thessaloniki underground: delays in completing the approval procedure for the project and examining the charges concerning breach of Community law by the Commission.
Date: 2002-02-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Investment Bank, Greece, co-financing, financing plan, infringement procedure (EU), underground railway

C 172 E/212

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

(2002/C 172 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0537/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 February 2002)

Subject: Illegal buildings in Greece

The Minister for the Aegean, Mr Sifounakis, recently visited the islands of the Cyclades where he made
speeches urging the inhabitants not to erect buildings without planning permission. 21 years have already
passed since his party came to power and it has remained in government continuously except for one
short break, a period marked by the erection of thousands of
illegal buildings which have caused
irreparable damage to the natural environment in Greece. The architectural monstrosities built during this
period are an insult to Greece’s cultural traditions.

Is the Commission aware of the unimaginable degradation and deterioration which the cultural and natural
environment in Greece have suffered in recent years? Does it have information on illegal building in the
other 14 Member States? Have other Member States encountered similar problems to Greece and managed
to resolve them, unlike the Greek Government which yields to short-term party political gain and damages
the environment and the architectural heritage?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(12 April 2002)

The illegal buildings referred to by the Honourable Member would appear to be private dwellings built
without planning permission. However, the failure of local authorities to properly apply Greek legislation
on urban building is outside the scope of Community environmental law.

Moreover, as the construction projects in question are not included among the projects listed in Annexes I
and II to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public
and private projects on the
amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of
as
3 March 1997 (2), this Directive does not apply. A further point is that Directive 2001/42/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans
and programmes on the environment (3) will not apply until 21 July 2004 (deadline for incorporation into
national law).

environment (1),

Attention is also drawn to Article 151 of the EC Treaty, according to which the Community is not
responsible for ‘harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States’ in the field of culture,
which remains the exclusive competence of the Member States.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(3) OJ L 197, 21.7.2001.

(2002/C 172 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0545/02

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 February 2002)

Subject: Thessaloniki underground: delays in completing the approval procedure for the project and

examining the charges concerning breach of Community law by the Commission

In his latest reply on the delay in completing the Thessaloniki underground project (P-3194/01 (1)),
to the
Commissioner Bolkestein stated that

‘the national authorities have yet

to submit a request

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/213

Commission to confirm the level of Community co-funding for this major project’ and that ‘it is clear that
compliance with Community legislation is one of the preconditions for ERDF funding of the project in
question’. Since then, neither
the Commission have signalled any
developments, and the Thessaloniki agencies are protesting at the way they are being made fools of,
since a decade has now passed with the project existing only on paper.

the national authorities nor

In view of Article 232 (ex Article 175) of the EC Treaty, under which an action may be brought for an EC
institution’s failure to act, what specific steps has the Commission taken (e.g. request for confirmation of
the level of co-funding) to advance this project, given that the examination of the charges brought
concerning breach of Community rules on state aid and public contracts has still not been completed?

Why has the European Investment Bank not approved the project’s financing plan and granted a loan? Is
this delay perhaps connected with issues relating to compliance with Community legislation?

Can the project be constructed using co-funding from national and Community resources without the EIB’s
backing, and what is the explanation for the Commission’s granting of appropriations for preliminary
its construction is still under
work before the project’s approval, at a time when the question of
consideration?

(1) OJ C 93 E, 18.4.2002, p. 219.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(22 March 2002)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the actual implementation of public
works concession projects in the Member States is not the responsibility of the Commission. Furthermore,
in the context of infrastructure projects of this type, the Commission is not responsible for the behaviour
of the banks, the concessionaire or the Member State concerned in conducting negotiations on how these
are financed, nor for the possible success or failure of these negotiations. Given the foregoing, the
Commission would query the relevance of the reference to Article 232 of the EC Treaty in the case in
question.

In this context, the Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that according to the
information at its disposal, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the commercial banks have asked that
the concessionaire make certain changes in the financial contribution by its shareholders before approving
the plan for financing the project in question. The latest information available indicates that these changes
have still to be made by the concessionaire’s shareholders.

Thus, with respect to the co-funding of this project under the Structural Funds during the 2000-2006
programming period, the Commission can confirm that it has still not received an application from the
Greek authorities. It would also refer the Honourable Member to the second paragraph of the answer given
by the Commission to his written question No 3194/01 (1).

During the 1994-1999 programming period, the Commission approved a total of € 5,8 million for this
project under the Community Support Framework for Greece.

This co-funding was primarily for the preliminary work required before construction could commence,
such as geotechnical and archaeological surveys of the site and studies of the public services networks.

In accordance with the provisions of the concession contract, the results of this work remain the property
of the Member State and may therefore be used for any future development of this project.

(1) OJ C 93 E, 18.4.2002, p. 219.