WRITTEN QUESTION E-0947/03 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Provisions enacted by the Italian Government with regard to electromagnetic pollution.
Date: 2003-03-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, electromagnetic interference, environmental protection, environmental standard, health policy, heritage protection, regulation of telecommunications, safety standard, single market, standardisation, telecommunications equipment

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/465

Article 8 of the EC Treaty confers the status of citizen of the Union to every person holding the nationality
of a Member State. Hence, the civil engineer, who is of Greek nationality,
is a citizen of the Union.
As stated by the European Court of Justice (2):

a citizen of the Union must be granted in all Member States the same treatment in law as that
accorded to the nationals of those Member States who find themselves in the same situation. It would,
therefore, be incompatible with the right of free movement were a citizen, in a Member State of which
he is a national, to receive treatment less favourable than he would enjoy if he had not availed himself
of the opportunities offered by the Treaty in relation to freedom of movement.

Those opportunities could not be fully effective if a national of a Member State could be deterred from
availing himself of them by obstacles raised on his return to his country of origin …

Article 149(2) of the EC Treaty aims to encourage the mobility of students.

On the basis of the above-mentioned considerations, the Commission will contact the Greek Authorities to
ask for the reasons for the excessive delays in their academic recognition procedure. The Commission will
keep the Honourable Member informed of the evolution of this file.

(1) See page 456.
(2) Case C-224/98 (D’Hoop).

(2004/C 84 E/0540)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0947/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(26 March 2003)

Subject: Provisions enacted by the Italian Government with regard to electromagnetic pollution

September 2002 marked the entry into force in Italy of Legislative Decree No 198/2002 laying down
provisions to accelerate the construction of
the strategic telecommunications infrastructures for the
modernisation and development of that country. The decree sets out the basic principles governing the
installation of telecommunications infrastructures with the aim of liberalising the telecommunications
market and making it competitive, rationalising authorisation procedures in line with the principles of
efficiency, publicity, concentration and rapidity, ensuring respect for the environment and for health and
pursuing quality targets.

The decree, which derives from Framework Law No 36/2001 on protection from exposure to electrical,
magnetic and electromagnetic fields, is intended to resolve the controversial issue of the spatial distribution
of telecommunications masts, which are primary sources of electromagnetic pollution and which until
now have not been governed by any detailed or specific legislation. The decree therefore aims to promote
technological development by simplifying installation authorisation procedures, while also setting out to
protect the environment, human health and historical and artistic heritage by awarding each competent
local authority powers of veto in the event of telecommunications operators failing to comply with the
provisions safeguarding these assets. The decree also introduces a national register of electromagnetic
sources of industrial origin, for systematic monitoring of the masts installed, with the aim of establishing
hard and fast rules for curbing the installation of unauthorised masts, or in other words the possibility of
operators installing masts as and where they like.

The limits on exposure to electromagnetic fields laid down in the legislation are the lowest in Europe and
in the world (6 V/m for all wavelengths). However, the need to guarantee free market conditions under
which operators can provide innovative services to citizens and users must also be borne in mind. In the
light of the positive initial results of the electrosmog monitoring that the Ministry of Communications has
recently launched in Italy, and in view of Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC (1) on the limitation of
exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields and Commissioner Byrne’s reply to my earlier
question (E-2648/99 (2)) on pollution by electromagnetic waves,

C 84 E/466

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Can the Commission indicate:

1. what its position is with regard to Legislative Decree 198/2002;

2. whether, in particular, it considers this legislation to be apt to guarantee the protection of health, the
environment and historical and artistic heritage, while also meeting the requirements of the free
market?

(1) OJ L 199, 30.7.1999, p. 59.
(2) OJ C 280 E, 3.10.2000, p. 93.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 May 2003)

On 12 July 1999, the Council adopted Recommendation 1999/519/EC limiting the exposure of the
general public to non-ionising radiation with a view to protecting human health in a frequency range of
0 Herz (Hz) to 300 Gigaherz (Ghz) which covers devices mentioned by the Honourable Member. These
limits also ensure adequate protection of patients with medical implants.

The Scientific Committee on Toxicity-Ecotoxicity and the Environment confirmed on 30 November 2001
that: ‘the additional information which has become available on carcinogenic and other non-thermal effects
of radio frequency and microwave radiation frequencies in the last years does not justify a revision of
exposure limits set by the Commission’.

Following this advice the Commission does not intend to change these limits. In the context of reviewing
the Council Recommendation, the Commission will prepare a report, by 2004, taking into account the
reports of the Member States and the latest scientific data and advice. The Commission will react to any
scientific risks not taken into consideration to date in the present set of recommended limits.

Recommendations differ from Directives: they are not binding. Nonetheless, Union Directives ensuring the
internal market for products base themselves on the limits recommended by the Council. Under these
Directives, notably the Low Voltage Directive (1) and the Radio and Telecommunication Terminal
Equipment Directive (2) the Commission mandated the European Standardisation Organisations to draft
safety standards for products, including installation and in-situ measurement standards. The aim of these
standards is to ensure that, when installed for their intended purpose, the exposure of the public remains
below the limits recommended by the Council. This leaves the task of the Member States to ensure that
adequate health protection measures are taken which may include dismantling operations if estimated
necessary by national or local authorities or exclusion zones in the vicinity of hospitals or schools. Such
measures shouldn’t, however, constitute a barrier to trade and thus not be counter to these Directives.

The Commission observes that,
in response to concerns expressed by the public, there is pressure to
dismantle or move GSM base stations, even in the absence of compelling scientific reasons to do so.
Measurements in Member States, including Italy, have confirmed that exposure levels are in general orders
of magnitude below recommended values, including the level in the Italian legislation. This level is a factor
of 7 to 10 below that recommended by the Council and in practice has the effect of creating a marginally
larger exclusion zone around a base station. These safety zones are normally between 5-10 metres in a
vertical plane in front of an antenna and one metrer horizontal. Since exposure drops with the square of
the distance, lowering the safety level will increase this zone by a factor of around 2,5 to 3,5.

(1) Council Directive 73/23/EEC of 19 February 1973 on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to

electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits, OJ L 77, 26.3.1973.

(2) Directive 1999/5/EC of

the Parliament and of

the Council of 9 March 1999 on radio equipment and

telecommunications terminal equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity, OJ L 91, 7.4.1999.