WRITTEN QUESTION E-1498/02 by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE), Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE)and José Mendiluce Pereiro (PSE) to the Commission. Exclusion of the Árreu Valley from the sites of Community importance proposal and the extension of the Baqueira-Beret ski resort (Cataluña, Spain).
Date: 2002-05-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Alpine Region, cataloguing, complaint to the Commission, environmental impact, environmental law, exchange of information, mountain region, protected area, sport, tourist infrastructure

14.11.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 277 E/217

(2002/C 277 E/239)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1498/02

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE), Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE)
and José Mendiluce Pereiro (PSE) to the Commission

(29 May 2002)

Subject: Exclusion of the Árreu Valley from the sites of Community importance proposal and the extension

of the Baqueira-Beret ski resort (Cataluña, Spain)

A project to extend the Baqueira-Beret ski resort in the Lérida Pyrenees (Cataluña), was submitted in 1991;
promoted by the Baqueira-Beret SAR private company, it occupied the Árreu Valley, which was then
included in the proposed ‘Alt Pallars’ SCI (5130003) for the alpine bio-geographical region. WWF/Spain
and other organisation protested, and a Community Complaint (Ref. 2001/4183, SG (2001) A/2385) was
lodged, pointing out that the building work invaded an area included in the Natura 2000 network SCI
proposal, and affected habitats and species which were priorities and were included in Annex IV of the
Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC (1)). The project was finally withdrawn with an ‘unfavourable’ environmental
impact statement. In August 2001, Baqueira-Beret SA submitted a fresh project for extending the ski
resort, occupying an important part of
(ES5130002).
WWF/Spain again protested against the scheme, demonstrating its serious environmental impact and the
inadequacy of
In October, after the alpine bio-geographical
the Árreu Valley and other areas affected by the Baqueira-Beret
seminar, WWF/Spain learned that
extension scheme had been excluded from the Alpine SCI proposal by the Catalan Government. WWF
submitted the scientific information available to date on the Árreu Valley to the ETCNC (2) (Paris), and the
Biodiversity Unit, demonstrating the need for the Árreu Valley to form part of the Natura 2000 Network.
The extension scheme submitted also affects France, since it invades the habitat of a group of bears (ursus
arctos) shared by both countries. Given the scheme’s favourable environmental impact statement, and the
adoption of the administrative procedures allowing Baqueira-Beret SAR to extend the ski resort into the
Árreu Valley, WWF/Spain is lodging a fresh complaint with the Commission: 2002/4204, SG(2002)
A/1912. If the Árreu Valley has been excluded from the SCI proposal in order to favour private building
projects, the whole process of setting up the Natura 2000 Network in Spain will be negatively affected,
and a bad precedent will be set, undermining the consistency demanded by the Habitats Directive.

the Árreu Valley and the ‘Aigüestortes’ SCI

the corrective, compensatory measures.

Is the Commission aware of the Baqueira-Beret extension scheme, and the facts set out in Complaint
2002/4204, SG(2002) A/1912?

Does the Commission know that this project affects both alpine SCIs in Spain proposed in the Directive on
Habitats, and IBA proposed by BirdLife in the directive on birds?

Does the Commission know the changes made by the Spanish Autonomous Communities in their
proposals for sites for the Natura 2000 Network, whereby areas previously protected were excluded in
favour of building projects not connected with or necessary to the management of the site, (Article 6(3) of
Directive 92/43/EEC), without the projects being subjected to an adequate assessment of their impact on
the site?

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.
(2) European Topic Centre on Nature Conservation.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2002)

The Commission has already received a first complaint, reference 1999/5118, on an extension scheme at
the Baqueira Beret ski resort in the Lleida Pyrenees in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Spain),
followed by several further complaints on the same subject. The Commission and the Spanish authorities

C 277 E/218

Official Journal of the European Communities

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14.11.2002

exchanged information in the course of preliminary enquiries into the case. Due to the competent
environmental authority’s negative impact assessment in June 2001, the scheme was not authorised.

The Commission was already aware, from the information it received in connection with complaints
2001/4183 and 2002/4204 referred to by the Honourable Members, that a new project to extend the
Baqueira-Beret ski resort had been submitted. The Spanish authorities gave this second project a positive
environmental impact assessment in January 2002.

In its initial inquiries on these complaints, the Commission asked the Spanish authorities to comment on
the claims made and on how EC environment law which might apply has been applied, and is now
waiting for a reply.

As regards the list of sites of Community importance (SCI) for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network
under the terms of Article 4 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of
natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, the list for the alpine biogeographical region is now in
preparation.

The list of SCI sites selected has to be adopted by the Commission on the basis of a draft which it prepares
in consultation with the Member States, which supply the relevant data. The information is analysed by the
European Environment Agency’s Nature Conservation Topic Centre and conclusions are drawn at the
relevant biogeographical seminars, in which non-governmental organisations are invited to participate.

(2002/C 277 E/240)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1499/02

by Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE) and Inger Schörling (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(29 May 2002)

Subject: Road through the Parque de Tamadaba (Gran Canaria, Spain)

The Tamadaba natural park, on the island of Gran Canaria (Spain), is of the greatest ecological significance;
in Pinar de Tamadaba there is a special bird protection zone (3 400 hectares SPBZ 355), and the 7 528
hectares of the Site of Community Interest (SCI) ES7010009) cover almost the entire park. Many of the
habitats represented in these areas are priority habitats (1). The Canaries Government is also thinking about
making two areas into an exclusion zone, mainly for the purpose of reintroducing the Fringilla teydea
polatzeki, the blue Gran Canaria bullfinch, a species which was the subject of LIFE projects in 1994 and
1998. The latter, with 60 % EU funding, began in 1999, and runs for four years. Within this protected
area, the Canaries Government’s Department of Public Works, on the grounds of the social importance of
improving communications between the village of La Aldea with the capital of the island, has proposed
building a new high-speed road with an average velocity of 80 kph. 14 tunnels and 21 viaducts are
planned, two of them some 90 metres high and with minimum radia of 250 metres. The Department
claim is that this will cut the distance between Agaete and La Aldea from 32 km to 19, and reduce the
journey time to between 15 and 20 minutes. Despite the public protests which have taken place, pointing
out that 16 or 20 alternatives exist, the Department has refused to consider any other kind of road. All
sorts of analyses are missing from the environmental impact assessment (2). The budget for building this
road is Ptas 25 billion (slightly over € 150 million), 15 billion of which are to come from the central
government’s Ministry of Development (’roads agreement’). It would appear that the latter funds are to
come from the ERDF.