WRITTEN QUESTION E-3871/02 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Construction of the Western Landfill Utility (Aterro Sanitário do Oeste).
Date: 2003-01-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Portugal, application of EU law, competence of the Member States, complaint to the Commission, environmental impact, environmental protection, groundwater, project evaluation, waste management

C 192 E/142

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

14.8.2003

The Commission does not, therefore, share the Honourable Member’s fears as to a deliberate policy by
Switzerland indirectly to reduce imports from the Community.

Cheese exports between the Community and Switzerland, consisting mainly of Italian exports, increased
considerably over the last decade. However, in the last few years they have stabilised. The entry into force
of the Agreement on Trade in Agricultural Products between the European Community and the Swiss
Confederation on 1 June 2002 will facilitate bilateral exchanges. The complete liberalisation of the cheese
market over five years is one of the important elements of the agreement. The Agreement (Annex 11,
Appendix 6) provides for equivalence, reciprocally for the Community and Switzerland, for milk and milk
products of bovine species intended for human consumption. These products therefore move between the
Community and Switzerland under intra-Community trade conditions. The bilateral structures put in place
by the Agreement should improve cooperation with the Swiss authorities,
in particular on all aspects
connected with integration of the cheese market.

(2003/C 192 E/178)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3871/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Construction of the ‘Western Landfill Utility’ (‘Aterro Sanitário do Oeste’)

Further to Commissioner Margot Wallström’s answer of 12 February 2001 to question E-3979/00 (1), by
the author of the present question, on the construction of the ‘Western Landfill Utility’ (‘Aterro Sanitário
do Oeste’) at Cadaval (Portugal), can the Commission provide information on its subsequent positions with
regard to this landfill and the decision it has arrived at, as asked for in the earlier question?

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 97.

Answer given by Ms Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(24 February 2003)

Further to its previous reply, the Commission informs the Honourable Member that at its meeting of
30 October 2002 it decided to terminate proceedings in the case of complaint 2000/4668 relating to the
construction of the Western Landfill Utility.

Having compared the explanations supplied by the Portuguese authorities with the plaintiffs’ statements,
the Commission considered that
there was no Community legal basis for further investigating the
complaint.

Urban landfill projects are included in Annex II to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (1), which means that by
virtue of Article 4(2) of the Directive they are the type of project for which the performance of an impact
assessment is left to the discretion of the national authorities. This discretionary power may be limited by
Article 2 of the Directive, which says that projects likely to have significant effects on the environment
must be made subject to an assessment with regard to their effects. It is nevertheless for the Member States
to analyse whether or not a given project may have significant effects on the environment. Such an
analysis was in fact carried out in the case in point by means of a number of environmental impact studies
and it did not indicate that the project was likely to involve any significant environmental effects.

Furthermore, the construction and operation of the landfill were made subject to the guarantees and
technical requirements contained in the new landfill Directive (cid:1) Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April
1999 on the landfill of waste (2) (cid:1) even though the Directive was not yet applicable to the project. The
project authorisation was therefore preceded by a descriptive memorandum containing information on the
geological, geotechnical and hydrological characteristics of
the
rainwater and residual water drainage system, the control and monitoring of the residual water and
underground water, the drainage and treatment of the biogas, and the safety of the population and

the waterproofing system,

the site,

14.8.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 192 E/143

workers. As regards waterproofing in particular, in the execution phase of the project a 0,5 metre thick
layer of clay plus a synthetic composite liner was laid so as to create a geological barrier with a total
permeability compatible with the requirements of the abovementioned Directive.

Finally, it should be noted that this landfill has been granted an environmental permit by the Directorate-
General for the Environment in accordance with the legislation transposing Council Directive 96/61/EC of
24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (3). This permit established a
programme of environmental monitoring of the landfill with which the operator is required to comply
throughout the operation, closure and post-closure maintenance phases.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999.
(3) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996.

(2003/C 192 E/179)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3881/02

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Community aid for establishing cogeneration plants

A company located in Villanueva de Algaidas (Malaga province, Spain) will open, by the end of the year,
the first private plant in Andalusia devoted to generating electrical energy using the refuse derived from
olive oil extraction.

Work on this new plant, which will generate 25 million watts, is all but complete: the energy will be sold
to the local electricity company, and will supply the needs of some 3000 households in the district.

In view of the high level of olive oil production in Andalusia and the pioneering and beneficial nature of
this experiment, can the Commission indicate what Community aids and incentives could be activated to
benefit such olive-growing undertakings in Andalusia as may wish to imitate this initiative, which will
soon be launched in the Malaga locality referred to?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2003)

The Commission has been very active, especially during the five last years, in orienting and developing the
Community policy for the renewable energy sector (RES). Amongst the various RES developed, biomass
and waste offer the highest potential contribution to the production of energy (about 60 %).

As regards Community incentives and Community aids, for the olive feedstock based combined heat and
power (CHP) plants in Andalusia, the Commission can highlight the following possibilities:

(cid:1) for research and further development of technologies for the use of renewable sources of energy, the
6th Research and Technological Development (RTD) Framework Programme (2003-2006) offers
financial support through its Specific Programme entitled ‘Integrating and strengthening the European
Research Area’, in which the relevant priority theme is ‘Sustainable development, global change and
ecosystems’, sub-priority: ‘Sustainable Energy Systems’. In particular, this programme provides support
for the co-financing of new innovative technologies in the field of co-combustion (biofuels with
conventional fuels), and CHP plants for large scale renewable electricity and heat production;