WRITTEN QUESTION P-3288/02 by Roberto Bigliardo (UEN) to the Commission. Environmental degradation and destruction of the Tifatini hills.
Date: 2002-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, countryside conservation, degradation of the environment, environmental impact, environmental protection, mining operation

C 155 E/128

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.7.2003

As it is an annual award, the recipient can hold the trophy one year. The previous recipient was the
International Olympic Committee. The Member of the Commission accepted the award in Bad Hofgastein
but instead of bringing it to Commission premises, it was then returned immediately to the Olympic
Museum in Lausanne, where it will be kept until it will be handed to the next recipient. This was primarily
due to security and practical reasons.

(2003/C 155 E/141)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3286/02

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 November 2002)

Subject: Principle of non-discrimination and respect for different cultures and traditions

A Portuguese citizen has complained that the law on registration of names currently in force in Spain (Law
40 of 5 November 1999) discriminates against the children of marriages between Spanish and Portuguese
people, since the names and order of names of the children are altered without the parents’ consent.

The problem arises when a child born of a Spanish mother or father is registered at a Spanish registry
office or consulate in order to obtain Spanish nationality. When registering the child both registry offices
the surnames) without
and Spanish consulates alter children’s names (by changing the order of
authorisation, almost always against
the parents’ will and without recognising identity cards, birth
certificates or any other Portuguese official document.

In view of the principles underpinning the European enterprise, namely a Europe where people have
freedom of movement and there is mutual recognition of educational qualifications and court judgments,
does this not constitute an infringement of a basic right, i.e. people’s right to choose what name to give
their children? Does it not constitute lack of respect for a person’s identity (name), culture and traditions (cid:1)
in this case a valued tradition which entails passing on the names of the father and grandfather?

Reply

(3 March 2003)

The Council would inform the Honourable Member that its powers do not extend to the laws governing
names.

The Council would, however, take this opportunity to draw the Honourable Member’s attention to the fact
that several agreements have already been drawn up in this area in the framework of the International
Commission on Civil Status. While the European Community is not a contracting party to this
international organisation, most of its Member States are.

(2003/C 155 E/142)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3288/02

by Roberto Bigliardo (UEN) to the Commission

(13 November 2002)

Subject: Environmental degradation and destruction of the Tifatini hills

In a previous parliamentary question (P-0154/02 (1)) on the subject of the particularly serious degradation
of the Tifatini hills around the city of Caserta, I asked the Commission what measures could be taken to
protect this area which had been the scene of reckless exploitation? The answer given to me was that the
Tifatini hills were the subject of an assessment by the Commission with a view to possible inclusion of the
area in an environmental protection plan (IT80010016). This apparently means that the site is protected
even in the intervening period and that Member States are obliged, under Directive 92/43/EEC (2), to
abstain from any activity that may cause such a site to deteriorate.

3.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 155 E/129

In actual fact, the hills which serve as a backdrop to the Reggia Vanvitelliana palace are in a state of total
destruction. Eight quarries are currently in operation in the area of Caserta and 12 others are abandoned
but many of them are in fact still being worked secretly. The total area of all the quarries was estimated a
few years ago at more than 1 000 m2. A report, also compiled some time ago, referred to ITL 7 000 billion
worth of damage. The area has now been completely disfigured and its natural geomorphology altered
beyond all recognition. The scale of the destruction caused by quarrying in the Caserta area is unequalled
anywhere else in Europe.

What monitoring and intervention measures does the Commission intend to take vis-à-vis the local
authorities responsible for this failure to honour their obligations under Community Directive 92/43/EEC?

(1) OJ C 205 E, 29.8.2002, p. 83.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 December 2002)

Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992, on the conservation of natural habitats and of
wild fauna and flora provides for the protection of Sites of Community Importance which will, according
to the procedure laid down by the Directive, be designated as Special Conservation Areas. These
obligations apply to all authorities of the Member States, at national, regional or local level. In particular,
under Article 6, paragraph 3,
‘any plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to the
management of the site but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination
with other plans or projects, shall be subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in
view of the site’s conservation objectives.’

The above-mentioned provision applies to Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and to Special
Conservation Areas (SCA) under Directive 92/43/EEC. Even if it may not, at present, be fully binding for
proposed Sites of Community Importance (pSCI) under Directive 92/43/EEC, these being sites which have
been proposed by Member States but not yet included in an official list of sites of Community interest
adopted by the Commission, Member States have an obligation to act in a way that does not jeopardise the
objectives of the Directive and ensure, therefore, that measures are taken to prevent the deterioration of
proposed sites.

‘Monte Tifata’ (cid:1) IT8010016 (cid:1) is a pSCI under Directive 92/43/EEC. Therefore, it is covered by the above-
mentioned obligation.

In the specific case, not being aware of
Commission will take the appropriate steps in order to gather detailed information about it.

the situation described by the Honourable Member,

the

Should the Commission be informed that Community law is being breached in the specific case, it would
including infringement
not hesitate, as the guardian of the EC Treaty, to take all necessary measures,
procedures under Article 226 of the EC Treaty, in order to ensure the observance of relevant Community
law.

(2003/C 155 E/143)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3293/02

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(21 November 2002)

Subject: Tourism development in a bird area in Calp, Valencian Community, Spain

In the municipality of Calp (Autonomous Community of Valencia), Spain, the local General Urban Plan
was modified in 1998 in order to permit the building of hundreds of homes (Plan Parcial 4 El Saladar)
within and surrounding the wetland ‘Las Salinas de Calpe’ in an area previously listed as an area of ‘Special