WRITTEN QUESTION P-1826/03 by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. High-speed Italian transverse rail route: internal market, environmental impact and productivity of investment.
Date: 2003-05-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Italy, environmental impact, high-speed transport, impact study, project evaluation, rail network

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/727

On 9 July 2003, the Commission decided, on the basis of information brought to its attention, to suspend
all contracts with Planistat pending the ongoing enquiries. Eurostat has already suspended payments to
Planistat with respect to activities in relation to Data Shops. Planistat was signaled in the Commission’s
Early Warning System on 23 July 2003. On that day, the Commission instructed its authorizing officers to
terminate all contracts with Planistat.

A thorough examination of all contracts in force and the work carried out by the firm is ongoing. For work
effectively carried out, the Commission remains liable to pay the corresponding amounts. Should the
ongoing investigations of OLAF and the judicial authorities in France reveal a breach of the financial rules,
the Commission will take the appropriate action immediately. It should also be noted that the Commission
has lodged a complaint against person(s) unknown under the procedure initiated by the Paris Public
Prosecutor in response to information supplied by OLAF

On 16 May 2003, as part of the follow-up to the 2001 Discharge procedure and at Parliament’s request,
the Commission sent the Cocobu secretariat six internal audit reports drawn up by the Eurostat internal
audit service between 1999 and 2002, pursuant to the procedures laid down in the framework agreement
on the transmission of confidential documents to Parliament. Subsequently, on 20 May 2003, a summary
report on the follow-up to the internal audit reports was also sent the Cocobu secretariat.

Some of the audit reports are subject to OLAF investigations and some have also been included in the
dossiers sent by OLAF to the Luxembourg legal authorities and the public prosecutor’s office of the Paris
Regional Court. The Commission is anxious not to prejudice either the ongoing investigations or the rights
of the parties involved.

(1) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the

general budget of the European Communities, OJ L 248, 16.9.2002.

(2) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999.

(2004/C 78 E/0777)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1826/03

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 May 2003)

Subject: High-speed Italian transverse rail route: internal market, environmental impact and productivity of

investment

The Italian Government has revived the projected transverse high-speed rail
link (Lyons-Turin-Venice,
Trieste-Ljubljana). In connection with the current environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Turin-
Lyons, Milan-Genoa and Milan-Verona stretches, the leading Italian environmental organisations have
pointed out that there have been no: cost-benefit analyses taking economic, technical and environmental
factors into account; assessments of the direct and indirect effect of the works and of alternative options,
including the zero option; credible planning scenarios and clear project documents; studies relating to
environmental impact and the full framework of environmental, rural and urban planning constraints.

In particular:

(cid:1) in the case of the Turin-Lyons line, the impact of the works on tourism in the valley (including the
initiation of building works lasting several years and requiring the moving of 8 million square metres
of excavated material), hydrogeological risks both at the construction and the operational stage, and
the impact on Sites of Community Importance (SCIs), particularly the Casellette wetlands and the
Foresto nature reserve, have all been underestimated;

(cid:1) in the case of the Genoa-Milan line, the implications for many archaeological sites (including Libarna),
the hydrogeological
implications (a 46 km tunnel, quarries, excavation of sections of the River
Scrivia), the impact on 4 SCIs (banks of the River Scrivia, Capanne di Marcarolo, Praglia and Monte
Gazzo) and one SRI
land, woodland and
(Arenziarie di Serravalle) and the loss of agricultural
countryside have been underestimated;

C 78 E/728

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(cid:1) in the case of the Milan-Verona line, no study is being carried out of the impact on areas of
outstanding natural beauty or importance (including ten areas subject to planning constraints in four
municipalities in the Verona district) or on the SCI in Laghetto del Frassino, and there has been no
discussion of the protection of hydrological resources and noise pollution.

What measures does the Commission intend to take to ensure that the EIA procedure is applied correctly,
not just in form but in substance, so that it takes account of all the above-mentioned factors which have
been excluded from the assessment?

Is the Commission prepared to finance the construction of these sections of line despite the absence of any
detailed analysis of the productivity of this investment and of traffic flows?

In particular, does the Commission not intend to consider funding the modernisation of the existing
railway line in the case of the Turin-Lyons line?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 2003)

In all co-financing granted under the budget for trans-European networks (which applies, for instance, to
the studies concerning the Lyon-Turin line), the Member State or Member States responsible for the project
must make sure that the project is consistent with EU legislation on protection of the environment, and in
particular:

(cid:1) Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 (1), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of
3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EE on the assessment of the effects of certain public and
private projects on the environment (2);

(cid:1) ‘Natura 2000’ legislation in accordance with Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the
conservation of wild birds (3) and Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation
of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (4).

The Commission regards this project as being of major importance in redressing the modal balance of
traffic between Western and Eastern Europe across the Alps and through Italy. Projections made in several
studies by independent bodies and confirmed by the studies undertaken by Lyon-Turin Ferroviaire, the
company responsible for managing the Franco-Italian section of the project, show a substantial increase in
goods transport throughout the Alps over the next fifteen years; this is certainly not unconnected with the
impact of enlargement. For the moment, the major part of the project, including the Lyon-Turin line, is
still under study. These studies (cid:1) co-financed by the EU from the trans-European network’s budget (cid:1)
should among other things serve to hone the economic hypotheses and help to design a model for
operating the line that should be sufficiently profitable to attract investors, including from the private
sector. The studies also include environmental aspects. The questions concerning excavations and
hydrological resources referred to by the Honourable Member are therefore part of Lyon-Turin Ferroviaire’s
work programme.

The EU is already co-financing the construction of access points to the existing Turin-Lyon line. This work
is intended to improve its operation and will make it possible from June 2003 to operate an experimental
rail shuttle service between Aiton (France) and Orbassano (Italy). However, capacity on the existing line
and its technical characteristics are not compatible with the traffic increase expected in the next few years.
The existing line therefore represents a bottleneck preventing the railway from being competitive with the
road and hampering implementation of a strategy to redress the modal balance in goods transport across
the Alps. Accordingly, only new infrastructure with modern specifications will ensure that rail transport
presents a credible alternative to transport by road.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(3) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.
(4) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.