WRITTEN QUESTION E-0952/02 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Failure of Greece to comply with EU environmental legislation.
Date: 2002-04-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, Greece, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, air quality, environmental law, environmental protection, infringement of EU law, waste management, water protection

C 277 E/114

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.11.2002

As a member of this intergovernmental organisation, the Commission has just one vote out of the 16.
Through its presence on the Board of Governors, the Commission does its utmost to ensure that the needs
of officials and other servants of the Union Institutions are fully met but, naturally, both the powers and
responsibilities of the Commission reflect the fact that its representative is one of 16 members of the
Board.

(2002/C 277 E/127)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0948/02

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Infringements of Community law in the Member States

(9 April 2002)

Can the Commission provide a comparative table of the most recent data on infringements of Community
law per Member State?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2002)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its annual report on monitoring the application
of Community law. The nineteenth annual report covering 2001 is currently being drawn up for
presentation to Parliament.
In the meantime updated particulars can be found on the Commission
Secretariat-General’s Europa site at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/
sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions.

(2002/C 277 E/128)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0952/02

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: Failure of Greece to comply with EU environmental legislation

Will the Commission say in how many instances Greece may be presumed to be in breach of Community
environmental legislation, and in relation to which matters?

In how many instances (if any) is the Commission preparing to bring Greece before the Court of Justice,
and in relation to which matters?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 May 2002)

At the beginning of April 2002 the Commission was dealing with 100 cases of suspected infringement of
Community environmental legislation involving Greece. Of these 100 cases, 35 concern Directive 85/337/
EEC (1), as amended by Directive 97/11/EC (2), 20 relate to Community waste management legislation, 19
concern nature protection, 10 concern water protection, 10 concern air pollution and 6 relate to other
sectors of Community environmental legislation. The Commission has decided to initiate infringement
proceedings against Greece in 32 of these cases.

On 10 April 2002 the Commission had already referred 7 cases to the Court of Justice: C-371/2001
(failure to notify national measures transposing Directive 98/81/EC (3)), C-374/2000 (failure to notify

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the
national measures transposing Directive 97/11/EC), C-33/2001 (failure to communicate any of
information required under Article 8(3) of Directive 91/689/EEC (4)), C-301/2001 (non-conformity of
national measures transposing Directive 85/337/EEC), C-302/2001 (uncontrolled disposal of waste at the
Epitalio landfill site), C-83/2002 (failure to communicate the information specified in Article 11 of
Directive 96/59/EC (5)) and C-119/2002 (absence of a collecting system and a treatment plant for the
tertiary treatment of urban waste water in the Thriassion area).

(1) Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private

projects on the environment, OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(2) Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment

of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(3) Council Directive 98/81/EC of 26 October 1998 amending Directive 90/219/EEC on the contained use of

genetically modified micro-organisms, OJ L 330, 5.12.1998.

(4) Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste, OJ L 377, 31.12.1991.
(5) Council Directive 96/59/EC of 16 September 1996 on the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and poly-

chlorinated terpheynls (PCB/PCT), OJ L 243, 24.9.1996.

(2002/C 277 E/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0954/02

by Pat Gallagher (UEN) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: Health and safety in agriculture

Bearing in mind that the mid-term review of Agenda 2000 will shortly get under-way, and given that
farming per se is an activity with inherent safety risks, would the Commission support a call by the
European Parliament to include under the Rural Development pillar of the CAP a measure which offered
incentives to farmers to improve the safety environment of their farmyard and farm?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 May 2002)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member’s concern regarding the high level of accidents recorded
on farm and notes his request to introduce a new measure under the 2nd Pillar (rural development) of the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to provide incentives to farmers to improve farm safety.

The Commission would draw the Honourable Member’s attention to the already existing possibilities for
Community support for actions to improve farm safety under Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of
17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee
Fund (EAGGF) (1).

Two of the measures offered under the above Regulation are of particular relevance. These are first, the
measure concerning support for vocational training for farmers and other persons involved in agricultural
activities, under which training actions designed to increase farmers knowledge and skills related to health
and safety on-farm would be eligible and, second, the measure providing support for investment in
agricultural holdings, which makes reference to eligibility of investments to improve the living and
working conditions on farm, which could encompass investments required to improve health and safety.

Community rural development policy is implemented in a decentralised way, in line with the principle of
subsidiarity and in order to take account of the diverse situations of Europe’s rural areas. It is therefore the
responsibility of the Member States to decide which of the ‘menu’ of twenty-two rural development
measures offered in Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 are best suited to the particular needs of their rural
areas and the share of the financial resources they wish to allocate to each measure (including, for
example, any more-targeted schemes to improve farm health and safety) from within the funding envelope
allocated to them at Community-level.