WRITTEN QUESTION E-1892/03 by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission. Failure to protect the Albufera de Valencia park.
Date: 2003-06-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, environmental impact, environmental protection, impact study, nature reserve, property development, protected area

6.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 58 E/107

(2004/C 58 E/122)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1892/03

by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Failure to protect the Albufera de Valencia park

(6 June 2003)

The author of this question has repeatedly condemned the failure to protect the Albufera de Valencia park,
which is a special protection area for birds (SPAB). Last month saw the expiry of the precautionary
measures which the Valencia Regional Government laid down in April 2000 on a temporary basis,
pending final approval of the park’s management plan. However, approval of that plan is now eight years
overdue.

The Valencia Regional Government’s Environment Ministry began drawing up the management plan in
April 2000 and the period during which it was made available for public consultation ended last year.
However, the regional government has yet to reply to the objections raised, nor has it published a final
version of the management plan.

In view of the fact that, in a judgment of 11 November 1999, the Supreme Court declared the Albufera
Natural Park Special Protection Plan (the only specific planning and management tool applicable to the
park) to be null and void, and given the threat currently posed by the damage being done to the park
(which loses a certain number of species each year, whilst even greater numbers become endangered), is
the Commission planning to make representations to the Spanish authorities with a view to ensuring that
the Albufera SPAB is finally covered by a proper management plan which will protect its biodiversity?

Does the Commission not think that the Valencia Regional Government should draw up a management
plan before promoting any more urban developments which could seriously affect the park, such as the
Pinedo housing estate, the Parador Nacional hotel, industrial growth around the park’s protective boundary
and the installation of extensive drainage (in the Barranco del Poyo, for example)?

Can the Commission guarantee that the above urban developments will not be promoted without the
requisite environmental assessment being carried out in each case?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2003)

The Honourable Member has expressed her concern regarding the lack of management plan for the
‘Parque Natural de la Albufera de Valencia’.

The Albufera has been designated as Special Protected Area under the Birds Directive (1) and proposed as
Site of Community Importance under the Habitats Directive (2) for the Mediterranean Region. The last
Mediterranean bio-geographical seminar was held in Brussels in January 2003. At the present time,
Member States are still analysing the results of the seminar therefore the Commission has not adopted yet
the Mediterranean List.

After the Commission list adoption, Member States have a period of six years to designate the proposed
sites as ‘Special Areas of Conservation’

Article 6§1 of the Habitats Directive establishes that ‘For special areas of conservation, Member States shall
establish the necessary conservation measures involving,
if need be, appropriate management plans
specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans, and appropriate statutory,
administrative or contractual measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural
habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the sites’.

Therefore, Member States must establish appropriates conservation measures in order to ensure that the
objectives of the Habitats Directive are fulfilled. These conservation measures, that must be established for
the special areas of conservation, could be management plans or not. Member States are the competent
authorities to define which conservation tool it is needed for each Natura 2000 site.

C 58 E/108

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2004

Regarding the urban development, Article 6§3 of the Habitats Directive establishes that ‘Any plan or
project not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site but likely to have a
significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, shall be
subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site’s conservation
objectives. In the light of the conclusions of the assessment of the implications for the site and subject to
the provisions of paragraph 4, the competent national authorities shall agree to the plan or project only
after having ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned and,
if
appropriate, after having obtained the opinion of the general public’.

For this case, any urban development that could have a significant impact on the Natura 2000 site must be
submitted to an environmental impact assessment.

(1) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.
(2) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora,

OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2004/C 58 E/123)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1893/03

by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission

(6 June 2003)

Subject: Unauthorised discharge of hazardous waste in the Valencia region

The Valencia region currently has no facilities for hazardous waste, even though it produces 250 000
tonnes thereof each year (1). According to a study carried out by the Valencia UGT’s Environment and
Occupational Health Department, only between 3 % and 18 % of that annual figure is procesed properly (a
finding which has recently been confirmed by the Valencia Regional Government). Most of the rest is
disposed of on unauthorised dumps.

Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that most of the paltry amount of hazardous waste which is
actually managed is exported to other Spanish regions (Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia and
Murcia), precisely because Valencia itself lacks suitable processing facilities.

In view of the fact that, under Community law on waste:

(cid:1) there is a ban on the unauthorised dumping of waste which, according to the ERC,

is deemed

hazardous;

(cid:1) particular emphasis is placed on the need to locate waste-management centres at a reasonable distance
away from production centres and at the same time to observe the minimum safety distances
established for the benefit of the local population;

(cid:1) the dangers possibly associated with the carriage of hazardous substances over large distances are

regulated,

is the Commission prepared to request, for the purposes of its research, the data contained in the above-
mentioned UGT report?

Does the Commission consider
the Valencia Regional Government’s current management of
hazardous waste meets the needs of a community which generates 250 000 tonnes of such waste per
year? Does it not think that it should make representations to the Spanish authorities with a view to
having a specialist facility permanently installed in a suitable location within the region, without any
repetition of the serious shortcomings detected in the case of Real de Montroi?

that

(1) The only facility which has hitherto been available (the one at Real de Montroi) has recently been closed in response
infringement of

the failure to observe minimum safety distances,

to justified protests from local people at
environmental law and other operational irregularities.