WRITTEN QUESTION E-0568/03 by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (PPE-DE), Bert Doorn (PPE-DE)and Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Government aid for the Laarbruch airfield.
Date: 2003-02-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Germany, State aid, airport, application of EU law, auction sale, control of State aid, price of land, restriction on competition

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(cid:1) 92/43/EEC (3) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, and

(cid:1) 90/313/EEC (4) on the freedom of access to information on the environment might have been

breached in this instance?

What steps does it intend to take with a view to ensuring that the above directives are duly implemented?

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.
(2) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.
(4) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2003)

The Honourable Member referred to two different areas both located in Castilla-La Mancha Autonomous
Community.

According to information provided by the Honourable Member it is not possible to identify the exact
location of the sites. Nevertheless, it seems that one of these areas is close to a site proposed by the
Spanish authorities as one of Community Importance, ‘Sierra de Pela’, ES4240007 and the other to the
SPA ‘Altos de Barahona’, ES0000203.

Therefore, an environmental assessment has to be carried out by the Spanish authorities in accordance
with article 6(3) of
the Habitats Directive, Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the
conservation of wild birds.

So far as Council Directive 85/337/EC 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) is
concerned, this requires an environmental impact assessment to be carried out of proposed ‘installations
for the harnessing of wind power for energy production (wind farms)’ if they are ‘likely to have significant
effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location.’ When an assessment is
carried out, amongst other information it should cover the cumulative effects of the proposed project. It is
not clear from the information provided by the Honourable Member whether there has been a breach of
the Directive in the cases referred to in the question.

As regards the fact that the inhabitants have not received an answer from the competent authorities to
their request for information, it should be pointed out that Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990, on the
freedom of access to information on the environment obliges public authorities to provide access to
available environmental information within a maximum of two months from receipt of the request, unless
one of the exceptions to this obligation as laid down in Article 3 of this Directive applies. It is not clear
from the information provided by the Honourable Member at what time the request was made, nor is it
clear whether the local inhabitants have sought, on the basis of Article 4 of the Directive,
judicial or
administrative review in accordance with the relevant national legal system. It is, therefore, not clear from
the information provided by the Honourable Member whether there has been a breach of Council
Directive 90/313/EEC in this case.

(2003/C 268 E/111)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0568/03

by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (PPE-DE), Bert Doorn (PPE-DE)
and Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(27 February 2003)

Subject: Government aid for the Laarbruch airfield

A civilian airport is currently being developed at the former (German) military airfield in Laarbruch.
A private company, Flughafen Niederrhein GmbH, purchased the complex (with an area of 615 ha) from
the German ‘Vermögensverwaltung’ (Public assets management agency) at a cost of EUR 11,5 million.
Flughafen Niederrhein GmbH simultaneously sold the complex on for the same price to the Van de Lande
group. The airfield is now called ‘Airport Niederrhein’ (Lower Rhine Airport). Of the EUR 11,5 million,
EUR 3,83 million has already been paid and another EUR 3,83 million will be paid at the end of 2003. The
remaining EUR 3,83 million only needs to be paid if the airport has not created 350 jobs by the end of

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2007. There was no public invitation to tender for the sale of the site, even though gravel extraction firms
were prepared to pay 3 times as much. The German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia is expected to have
to provide an annual amount of EUR 3,83 million to cover costs including public utilities for the civilian
airport.

This raises the following questions:

1. Was this project notified, or did an investigation take place,

in connection with the European

regulations on government aid?

2.

3.

If such an investigation did take place, what were its conclusions?

If no such investigation took place, does the Commission now propose to carry one out at short
notice?

4. What measures will the Commission take if an investigation shows or has shown that this case

involves government aid which is not covered by the European regulations in this area?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(8 April 2003)

1. and 2.
The Commission can herewith inform the Honourable Members that the Commission has not
received any notification with regard to the development of Laarbrucher Airport and that no investigation
has been carried out by the Commission in connection herewith.

3. and 4.
According to the ‘Commission Communication on State aid elements in sales of land and
buildings by public authorities’ (1), no state aid issues arises were the public assets have been sold at a
market value. Although the information provided by the Honourable Members does not, a priori, indicate
that the airport was sold below market price or on non-commercial terms it cannot, in the absence of a
tendering procedure, be excluded that this has been the case. Therefore, the Commission will request
information from the competent Member State in order to assess whether or not the sale of the airport has
been carried out under market conditions.

In case this inquiry would indicate that State aid elements may be present, the Commission will initiate the
procedures foreseen under Article 88 of the EC Treaty and Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of
22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 (new Article 88) of the EC
Treaty (2).

(1) OJ C 209, 10.7.1997.
(2) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999.

(2003/C 268 E/112)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0577/03

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(28 February 2003)

Subject: Possible health threat posed by cellphones

Recent research by Swedish doctors on laboratory animals at the University of Malmö suggests that the use
of cellphones may damage the brain, and that adolescents (cid:1) among whom there has been a spectacular
increase in the use of these phones (cid:1) are most likely to be affected. The research shows that it is suspected
that the radiation emitted during the use of cellphones may cause the necrosis of neurons which are the
cells on which brain activity is based; this may lead to a reduction in intellectual capacity and cause
degenerative diseases of the brain. The researchers have also found that an increase in the intensity of the
radiation increases the number of neurons destroyed in the brain.

This particular piece of research differs from most research on the safety of cellphones, since it examines
the effect on the human brain rather than the relation between the use of cellphones and cancer.

What measures does the Commission intend to take to fully resolve this important question? Does it
intend to promote more extensive research and monitor the effect of the long-term use of cellphones on
the human brain?