WRITTEN QUESTION E-0880/03 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Creation of a special fund for the safety of historic buildings — proposal by Lazio Regional Council.
Date: 2003-03-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Latium, cultural heritage, environmental risk prevention, fund (EU), heritage protection, seismic monitoring, urban renewal

15.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 11 E/151

(2004/C 11 E/172)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0875/03

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(20 March 2003)

Subject: National Mountain Fund

Knoowing that:

(cid:1) Law No 97 of the Italian Republic of 31 January 1994 sets out ‘new measures for mountain areas’.
Article 2 sets up the National Mountain Fund, and Article 5 of that article states that the criteria for
the distribution of funds to the regions and provinces are to be approved by a decision of the
Interministerial Economic Planning Committee (CIPE);

(cid:1) the CIPE decision of 2 August 2002 defined criteria for the distribution of funds and percentage

quotas from the National Mountain Fund;

(cid:1) following the Italian Finance Ministry Decree of 29 November 2002, the Italian Department of

General Accounts has reduced funds under chapters of expenditure;

(cid:1) the decree of the Director-General of the Department for Development and Management Policy of
12 December 2002 reduced the amount of money available to the National Fund, diminishing the
allocations due to regions and autonomous provinces, while respecting the percentages approved in
the above-mentioned CIPE decision;

(cid:1) this decree would require regions to revise their budgets and reduce payments to mountain

communities, areas that are underdeveloped and at the risk of depopulation.

What initiatives does the Commission intend to take to ensure that mountain communities receive the
payments planned in 2002, the International Year of Mountains, without reducing services to the local
population?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(24 April 2003)

The law of 31 January 1994 to which the Honourable Member refers is a law of the Italian Republic. The
Commission therefore has no power to influence its application.

(2004/C 11 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0880/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(21 March 2003)

Subject: Creation of a special fund for the safety of historic buildings (cid:1) proposal by Lazio Regional

Council

At
the extraordinary meeting chaired by the chairman Francesco Storace and held in Brussels on
21 November 2002 in the presence of the President of the Commission Romano Prodi, Lazio Regional
Council considered the question of stabilising and improving safety standards for the buildings which make
up the region’s historical and cultural heritage.

The Region is starting a campaign to ascertain whether public buildings meet standards regarding
earthquake resistance, in particular buildings of historical and cultural importance, but (cid:1) in view of the
inadequate resources available for the purpose and recent tragic events which highlighted the issue of
safety as regards earthquake hazards even in areas defined as ‘low-risk’ (cid:1) the regional government decided
to ask the EU to set up a special fund, possibly to be co-financed by the Region, to carry out the relevant
measures.

C 11 E/152

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

15.1.2004

The category of public buildings of historical and cultural importance is not explicitly covered in the
document DOCUP Lazio for Objective 2, 2000-2006, nor can it be covered by the Lazio section of the
EAGGF. It would therefore be appropriate for the Union to make provision for an ad hoc fund to assist
this initiative.

In view of the earlier question of 20 November 2002 on the containment of earthquake hazards in the
Region of Lazio and the answer by Commissioner Wallström, in which she stated that the Commission
was interested in any proposal submitted by regional authorities regarding changes to the current
operational programme (DOCUP), in order to focus the resources available, can the Commission say:

1. whether existing resources available on the basis of programmes already approved can be redirected to

Lazio Regional Council’s initiative;

2. whether measures designed to prevent the risk of earthquake damage, in particular to buildings of

historical and cultural value, are already envisaged;

3. whether a special ad hoc fund for historic buildings can be set up;

4. whether it has in its possession any studies on the subject?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 2003)

For the period 2000-2006 the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
is part-financing the
Lazio Region single programming document (SPD), measure I.1 of which has a budget allocation of
EUR 55 million and covers structural soil-protection operations aimed inter alia at preventing natural
disasters. The operations are intended, in particular, to enable consolidation of soil on slopes and of water
management.

With more specific regard to buildings of historic interest, measure III.2 has a budget allocation of
EUR 111 million and provides (cid:1) under priority III (development of local systems) (cid:1) for part-financing
measures to preserve and categorise property of touristic and cultural interest, which could also cover
securing buildings.

Carrying out these operations is the responsibility of the regional authority, which (cid:1) as the managing
authority for the programme (cid:1) is responsible, in particular, for selecting projects. The Commission would
therefore request the Honourable Member to ask that authority for more detailed information on this.

Nor does the Commission possess specific studies on safeguarding buildings of historic and cultural
interest against earthquake risk. It does not envisage setting up a special fund for such buildings, since the
Structural Funds’ programming provides sufficient scope for the regions to meet this type of need.

It should also be noted that for a number of years the Commission has been assigning to the European
Committee for Standardisation (ECS) the task of drawing up and publishing a set of 56 standards known as
Eurocodes, which are intended to enable building and civil engineering structures’ mechanical resistance
and stability to be verified. Of those standards, the EN 1998 series deal specifically with the design of
structures for earthquake resistance. Five of the six standards on this have now been technically completed
and are ready for the formal voting procedure.

Once voted on, the standards will be made available by the ECS. The Italian standards body (UNI) will have
the opportunity to comment on the drafts.

Although the texts are not yet final, the Honourable Member could therefore obtain the draft standards
referred to above from the Italian authorities.