WRITTEN QUESTION E-1276/02 by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Reopening of the Mont Blanc tunnel.
Date: 2002-05-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: common transport policy, environmental protection, international road transport, mountain region, rail network, sustainable development, traffic control, tunnel

C 301 E/114

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

How can the decision to reopen the Mont Blanc tunnel to some 6 000 lorries per day be compatible with
the EU environmental commitments, such as:

(cid:1) the decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, imposing an 8 % reduction in CO2 emissions in the European

Union;

(cid:1) the Treaty of Amsterdam, which established sustainable development as a priority objective;

(cid:1) the sustainable development strategy adopted by the Heads of State and Government in Göteborg in

June 2001, which advocates that environmental concerns be incorporated into all EU policies.

No serious argument can serve to justify the gradual choking to death of the alpine valleys by road traffic,
as 30 % of lorries run empty, road transport is unacceptably cheap, rail alternatives are largely under-
utilised and inland waterways and sea transport are underdeveloped.

How does the Commission expect to cope with the prospect, referred to in its White Paper, of goods
traffic through the Alps doubling by 2020?

(2002/C 301 E/120)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1276/02

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(6 May 2002)

Subject: Reopening of the Mont Blanc tunnel

The Commission has been consulted about the conditions for reopening the Mont Blanc tunnel to heavy
goods traffic. Article 4 of the relevant regulation presupposes a maximum of 240 TIR lorries per hour
passing through, equivalent to 5 760 per day. The access roads go across the Mont Blanc massif, which is
considered to be part of the heritage of mankind and the world and is protected by international charters
such as the Alpine Convention. The traffic which the regulation allows to go through the Mont Blanc
tunnel would therefore have an impact on the areas crossed by the access roads. During the three years
when the tunnel was closed (cid:1) since 24 March 1999 (cid:1) all investments were aimed at making the tunnel
itself safe and no resources were invested in the environmental and human ‘safety’ of the areas crossed by
the access roads, except the projects to build two enormous parking areas (each for about 3 000 lorries) to
help comply with the rules on the circulation of heavy goods traffic. However, these projects have not yet
been completed and the parking areas will be located in Aosta (Italy) and Le Fayet (France), about 30 km
from the entrance to the tunnel.

What steps will the Commission take in the immediate future to ensure that the area is protected against
damage caused by heavy traffic on such a potentially large scale, in view of the fact that before the tragedy
of 24 March 1999, when there were an average of 2 800 HGVs per day, the quality of the air was already
under serious threat, and in order to safeguard the integrity of the ‘Espace Mont Blanc’ by proposing
‘sustainable development’ models capable of reconciling the needs of
the inhabitants and the free
movement of persons and goods in an environment universally recognised as being ‘fragile and sensitive’?

Joint answer
to Written Questions P-1264/02 and E-1276/02
given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2002)

The reopening of the Mont Blanc tunnel will restore a key link between France and Italy and reduce the
environmental risks and pollution caused by the lorries currently diverted through the Maurienne and Susa
valleys, where the local population bears the full brunt. Far stricter conditions will be imposed on traffic
than those in force at the time of the tragic fire in 1999. They will provide a means of automatically
limiting the number of heavy goods vehicles on the Mont Blanc route, balancing traffic more evenly
between the Mont Blanc and Fréjus tunnels and improving safety.

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/115

However, this reopening is, by no means, a long-term solution, which must instead take the form of a
consistent package of measures, as described in the White Paper ‘European transport policy for 2010: time
to decide’ (1), designed, amongst other things, to provide a lasting solution to the problem of transit traffic
across the Alps.

Accordingly, the Commission considers that the absolute priority of controlling road traffic flows in the
Alpine region implies greater use of more environment-friendly modes, particularly rail. This alternative
depends on a number of conditions. Better targeted use of the existing railway infrastructure is, as the
Honourable Member stresses, essential as a first step but will not suffice, given the current situation of the
railways. They will not be able to offer a competitive alternative to intra-European road freight without
substantial improvements in quality of service. This is why, at the start of this year, the Commission
submitted a communication entitled ‘Towards an integrated European railway area’ (2) containing a second
package of proposals on rail transport to help to attain this ambitious objective.

Beyond that, looking at infrastructure, the Commission is providing both political and financial support for
constructing and bringing into service as soon as possible the two trans-Alpine rail
links already
mentioned in the guidelines for the trans-European transport network, i.e. the Lyon-Turin and Brenner
lines. With this in mind, the Commission has also proposed raising the level of funding for cross-border
rail projects in such sensitive environments as the Alps (3).

In the White Paper the Commission also proposes the establishment of a new Community framework for
charging for use of infrastructure in order to reflect more fully the external costs of the individual modes
and to make a decisive contribution to better regulation of traffic flows across the Alps. At the same time
these new rules should raise extra revenue to help fund trans-Alpine rail crossings.

The Commission also considers that greater use of transport by sea and inland waterway must be
encouraged so that they, in turn, can contribute to reducing transit traffic crossing the Alps. First, however,
any such shift to more environment-friendly modes will require improvements in quality of service at
ports, particularly on the Mediterranean Sea. The new Marco Polo programme to support intermodal
schemes must therefore contribute, amongst other things, to improving the performance of short-sea
shipping in order to turn it into a credible competitor against road transport.

This package of measures is, therefore, compatible with the sustainable development strategy which the
Commission considers one of its top priorities, as amply illustrated in the White Paper on transport policy.

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.
(2) COM(2002) 18 final.
(3) OJ C 75 E, 26.3.2002.

(2002/C 301 E/121)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1289/02

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 May 2002)

Subject: Proposed motorway between Los Realejos and Icod de los Vinos (Tenerife, Spain)

Towards the end of 2001, the regional government of the Canaries published in the BOC (Official Journal
of the Canaries) a ‘special territorial plan and information study for the Northern Tenerife Island Corridor’
(section Los Realejos-Icod de los Vinos).

The proposed stretch of motorway would be 10,8 km long and would include 2,9 km of tunnels, 2,9 km
of viaducts and four link roads occupying an area of almost 300 000 m2. This project would be an
ecological and environmental catastrophe for one of the few unspoilt areas still surviving in Tenerife. It