WRITTEN QUESTION E-0062/03 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Visit to Galicia by the Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, in order to assess at first hand the effects of the Prestige disaster.
Date: 2003-01-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Galicia, President of the Commission, cooperation policy, marine pollution, maritime safety, oil pollution, prevention of pollution, tanker, transport accident

C 268 E/66

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

7.11.2003

(2003/C 268 E/068)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0055/03

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(22 January 2003)

Subject: Establishment of a European coastguard service to ensure that hazardous cargoes can be safely

transported by sea

Will the initiatives to be proposed by the Commission following the ‘Prestige’ disaster include the
establishment of a European coastguard service (similar to the coastguard set up in the USA following the
‘Exxon Valdez’ accident) in order to ensure that hazardous cargoes can be transported safely through the
EU’s coastal waters?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(6 March 2003)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answers to Written Question E-3545/02 by
Mr Scarbonchi (1) and to Oral Question No H-872/02 put by Mr Cushnahan (2) during question time at
Parliament’s January 2003 session.

(1) See page 39.
(2) Oral answer on 14.1.2002.

(2003/C 268 E/069)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0062/03

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(22 January 2003)

Subject: Visit to Galicia by the Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, in order to assess at first hand the

effects of the ‘Prestige’ disaster

Is the Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, thinking of visiting Galicia and the other affected areas in
order to experience at first hand the effects of the accident involving the ‘Prestige’? Why has he not been to
Galicia in the same way as he went to Central Europe when disastrous flooding occurred last summer?
Was he invited to go to Galicia at the time of the accident by the President of the Galician Regional
Government, Manuel Fraga, or by the Spanish Prime Minister, José Maria Aznar?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

The President of the Commission has followed very closely and attentively the damage caused by the
sinking of the ‘Prestige’ even though he did not go to Galicia. He has continually shown personal
commitment to the consequences of the ‘Prestige’ disaster and to preventive measures in similar situations,
in an endeavour to find positive solutions.

Furthermore, in accordance with the mandate conferred upon it by the Copenhagen European Council
(point 34 of its conclusions), the Commission has already taken urgent measures which were submitted to
the Heads of State or Government, and other measures will be carried out in the short and medium term
in an attempt to prevent or alleviate the consequences of disasters like those which have affected the
Galician coastline.

Between now and June 2003, the Commission will review current legislative and policy instruments,
mainly concerning the environment but also in the fields of health, research,
fisheries and regional
development, in order to determine whether they need to be adapted to minimise the risk of recurrence of
such accidents and the immediate and longer-term damage they cause.

7.11.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 268 E/67

The Commission would stress once again its determination to continue playing its part in mobilising the
Union to do all it can to combat the effects of the ‘Prestige’ disaster and to put in place a coherent and
comprehensive Union policy regarding the prevention aspects of maritime safety.

(2003/C 268 E/070)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0068/03

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 January 2003)

Subject: Failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment prior to implementation of part of the

Is Arenas srl project

By decision of 4 October 2002 (No 2309/VIII) of the Director of the SIVEA service of the environmental
protection department, the Sardinia Autonomous Region arbitrarily exempted the Is Arenas srl property
group, at the end of the ‘preventive verification’ procedure, from the environmental impact assessment
transposed in Italy by the
procedure provided for
presidential decree of 12 April 1996 and subsequent amendments and addenda and by Sardinian regional
law No 1/1999 and subsequent amendments and addenda, for the building of a tourist centre on the
wooded dunes of Is Arenas, in the commune of Narbolia (OR).

in Directives 85/337/EEC (1) and 97/11/EC (2),

This exemption concerns approximately 57 000 cubic metres of the overall project’s 222 900 cubic metres,
coming under the programme agreement of 9 June 1997 between the Sardinia Region and Is Arenas srl,
entirely located in the ‘Is Arenas’ SCI (code ITB 002228),
in relation to which specific infringement
proceedings (Case No 43/81/2001) have already been opened for violation of Directive No 92/43/EC (3)
and a reasoned opinion was issued on 9 February 2001. This measure only concerns part of the property
project and fails to consider it in its entirety.

Does the Commission intend to open new infringement proceedings, this time for blatant violation of the
directives on environmental impact assessments (85/337/EEC and 97/11/EC)?

Does the Commission consider it appropriate, almost two years after notification of the reasoned opinion
in the infringement proceedings (Case No 4381/2001), to bring an action before the Court of Justice, in
view of the Sardinia Autonomous Region’s clear refusal to consider the overall environmental impact of
the Is Arenas building project in an SCI area?

Would the Commission agree that the decision to contribute some EUR 5 million of Community funding,
through the Oristano Territorial Pact, to the Is Arenas SIL (local intermediary) and related companies
should be definitively annulled?

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(7 March 2003)

In accordance with Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of
certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of
3 March 1997, Member States are obliged to ensure that, before consent is given, projects likely to have
significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject
to a requirement for development consent and assessment of their effects. Projects covered by the Directive
are listed in the Annexes. The projects in Annex I are subject to environmental impact assessment. For
projects listed in Annex II, Member States are obliged to determine, through a case-by-case examination or
by setting criteria or thresholds, whether a project is to be made subject to environmental
impact
assessment.