WRITTEN QUESTION E-1801/02 by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Environmental impact study on the Puente del Arco to El Condado section of the AS-17 highway (Asturias, Spain).
Date: 2002-06-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Principality of Asturias, application of EU law, environmental impact, environmental protection, project evaluation, regional planning, road network

6.2.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 28 E/137

Effective use of this new mechanism will be achieved through intensive training and full-scale simulation
exercises. The purpose of the training programme is to ensure that teams from different Member States
can work together effectively in an emergency despite differences in national systems. This will enable the
Community to consolidate its overall emergency response capacity and adjust it as required.

Regarding the specific role of volunteers, the Commission would draw the Honourable Member’s attention
to an initiative recently developed in the context of the Community action programme in the field of civil
protection (3) on ‘the role of non-governmental organisations’ (NGOs) volunteers in civil protection’. The
results of this project, which are accessible on the Commission’s civil protection unit website (4), include a
wide range of recommendations aimed at improving the involvement of civil protection NGOs in general
and of individual volunteers in particular.

(1) OJ C 172 E, 18.7.2002, p. 155.
(2) Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom of 23 October 2001, OJ L 297, 15.11.2001.
(3) Council Decision 1999/847/EC of 9 December 1999, OJ L 327, 21.12.1999.
(4) http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/civil/.

(2003/C 28 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1792/02

by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Redevelopment of the port of Port-Vendres (F66)

(24 June 2002)

The Catalan port of Port-Vendres in the Roussillon, in the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales, is
the subject of a regional development project by virtue of a charter of 11 July 2000.

This project, which is said to have received European (ERDF) funding, is opposed by a large section of the
Port-Vendres population, who have formed an association called ‘Ensemble pour Port-Vendres’. In a file
sent to Commissioner Barnier on 28 May 2001, the association reports irreparable damage to a site
worthy of protection, occasioned not
two beaches in the
municipality.

least by the concreting-over of

the last

Is the Commission able to verify whether this project has actually received European funding? If it has,
could it check whether the work completed, and that planned, complies with the European directives on
environmental protection?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2002)

According to the information provided by the French regional authorities, the project referred to by the
Honourable Member was not part-financed by the Structural Funds.

(2003/C 28 E/160)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1801/02

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

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Environmental impact study on the Puente del Arco to El Condado section of the AS-17 highway

(Asturias, Spain)

In the preparation of the information report on the construction of the Puente del Arco to El Condado
section of the AS-17 highway (Asturias, Spain), and in the environmental impact study, only one route

C 28 E/138

Official Journal of the European Union

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6.2.2003

was considered. This is contrary to Directive 85/337/EEC (1), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC (2),
which provides for the study of
thus enabling the option with the least
environmental and social impact to be selected.

three separate routes,

Is the Commission aware of this situation?

Does the Commission feel that Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC, has
been correctly applied in the case in point?

What measures could the Commission take, in conjunction with the Spanish authorities, to ensure that the
alternatives to the projected route are studied and that the one with the least social and environmental
impact is adopted?

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(5 August 2002)

The Commission was not aware of the situation reported by the Honourable Member. However, the
information given in the written question suggests that the road building project to which the Honourable
Member refers is not covered by Annex I of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985, as amended
by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997, on the assessment of the effects of certain public and
private projects on the environment.

instead, the road building project is regarded as covered by Annex II then,

If,
in accordance with
Article 4(2) of the Directive, it is up to the Member State to determine, either on a case-by-case basis or on
the basis of thresholds or criteria set by the Member State or by a combination of both these approaches,
which projects are likely to have a significant impact on the environment and therefore require an
environmental assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10 of the Directive. Member States must take
the criteria laid down in Annex III of the Directive into consideration when making that decision.

Moreover, Directive 85/337/EEC does not stipulate a minimum number of alternatives which must be
examined. Annex IV of the Directive lists the information to be provided by a developer, including an
outline of the main alternatives studied and an indication of the main reasons for his choice, taking into
account the environmental effects.

Having examined the information provided by the Honourable Member, the Commission considers that
there are no grounds for suspecting that the Spanish authorities have contravened Directive 85/337/EEC.
Nonetheless, should the Commission receive further information indicating that the Directive has not been
correctly applied, it will take steps to ensure compliance with Community law in the case in point.

Furthermore, according to the information received from the competent Spanish authorities, the road
building project to which the Honourable Member refers is not cofinanced under the Structural Fund.

(2003/C 28 E/161)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1802/02

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

(24 June 2002)

Subject: A-8 Cantabrian motorway (Asturias, Spain): compliance with Community law

The projected sections of the A-8 Cantabrian motorway (Principality of Asturias, Spain) that run from
Tamón to Otur and from Otur to the border with the province of Lugo, and which are funded by the
ERDF, will affect five of the ten Asturian municipalities with the largest milk quotas. The farms concerned
have received European funding under a Leader programme. In the last five years, over 400 million pesetas
have been invested in more than 200 start-up plans for young farmers and almost 600 improvement