WRITTEN QUESTION E-2049/03 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Use of clophen in Greece.
Date: 2003-06-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, application of EU law, chemical product, health risk, public health, toxic substance

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/189

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2003)

The Commission is well aware of the performance of diesel particulate filters and the benefits their use
may have for certain heavy-duty vehicles. Many test programmes have shown the benefits of using a diesel
particulate filter on heavy-duty vehicles and buses for reducing not only the overall mass emission of
particulate but also the very much smaller nano-particulate which are suspected of having a causal effect
on human health.

The emission standards due to take effect for new heavy-duty vehicles in 2005 and a further stage of
standards in 2008 through Directive 1999/96/EC (1) (the so-called EUR 4 and EUR 5 standards) will require
manufacturers to consider using diesel particulate filters to meet the emission standards. The standards set
performance targets that can be met by an appropriately durable technology. The diesel particulate filter
may not be the best technical solution for long distance trucks but for buses and other vehicles operating
in urban areas, the diesel particulate filter has a lot of merit. The Commission is now considering the Euro
6 emission standards and this will
focus not only on further reductions in particulate mass (the
measurement unit of today) but also on the reduction of emission of nano-particulate. New measurement
procedures for nano-particulate are being finalised with this objective in mind.

Article 3 of Directive 1999/96/EC provides the mechanism for Member States to grant fiscal incentives to
vehicles that meet future emission standards in advance of the date of their mandatory application.
Therefore, Community measures already exist to encourage the use of diesel particulate filters in the
Member States.

One point of relevance concerns the move towards the universal use of ultra-low sulphur fuels throughout
the Union. The use of ultra-low sulphur fuels will result in an immediate reduction in particulate mass
emissions from all vehicles, new and old. The sulphur in fuel contributes to overall particulate mass
emission.

(1) Directive 1999/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the approximation of the
laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate
pollutants from compression ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from
positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending
Council Directive 88/77/EEC, OJ L 44, 16.2.2000.

(2004/C 51 E/210)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2049/03

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 June 2003)

Subject: Use of clophen in Greece

It was recently revealed that there had been a leakage of clophen in the building of the Ministry of
Economic Affairs in Greece. At the same time the BIMA newspaper published a report stating that, apart
from Greek Electricity Board installations, there were 7 500 substations reducing the tension of electrical
current in the basements of buildings belong to public bodies, hospitals and undertakings, many of which
contain the dangerous substance clophen.

Have the Greek authorities informed the Commission in which installations this specific substance is

1.
used?

2. What public health risks does the use of this specific substance entail?

3.

Has it already taken action to address this problem in Greece?

C 51 E/190

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

26.2.2004

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(7 August 2003)

1. Member States are obliged to establish inventories on equipment with polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCB) volumes of more than five cubic decimetres (5 dm3) and to submit a summary of such inventory to
the Commission pursuant to Article 4 of Council Directive 96/59/EC of 16 September 1996 on the
disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCB/PCT) (1). The Greek Authorities
did not complete the inventory. On 5 June 2003 the Court of Justice condemned Greece for failing to
draw up, within the prescribed period, summaries of inventories of equipment with PCB volumes of more
than 5 dm3 (case C-83/02) (2).

The incomplete data submitted by Greece contains a contribution of 56 % of the Prefectural governments
and regions. It displays 303 number of units containing 11 884 condensers and 979 condensers/units in
storage (3).

Following a communication from the United Nations Environment Programme (4),

‘PCBs bio-
2.
accumulate in the fatty tissues of exposed animals and humans (Ponnambalam 1998; Neumeier 1998;
Fiedler 1997) and this exposure is believed to be responsible for a wide variety of health effects. Acute
exposures to high levels of PCBs have been associated with skin rashes, itching and burning, eye irritation,
skin and fingernail pigmentation changes disturbances in liver function and the immune system, irritation
of the respiratory tract, headaches, dizziness, depression, memory loss, nervousness, fatigue, and impotence
(Environment Canada 1985). Chronic effects of low-level PCB exposures reported include liver damage,
reproductive and developmental effects, and possibly cancer’.

In June 2003 the Commission received three more written questions (5) from Members of the
3.
Parliament concerning the same incident referred to by the Honourable Member. According to the
information at the Commission’s disposal, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that Greece has
infringed any Community environmental legislation (apart from the above-mentioned judgement of the
Court of Justice).

(1) OJ L 243, 24.9.1996.
(2) Letter from 29.3.2003 from the Permanent Greek Presentation to the Commission.
(3) See answer to Written Question E-2025/03, See page 182. Letter from 29.3.2003 from the Permanent Greek

Presentation to the Commission.

(4) UNEP: Guidelines for the Identification of PCBs and Materials Containing PCBs. First Issue August 1999, pp. 3-4.
(5) Written Questions E-1999/03, E-2025/03 and E-2062/03.

(2004/C 51 E/211)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2054/03

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(20 June 2003)

Subject: Degradation of Special Protection Area (SPA) IT5210070 (cid:1) Lake Trasimeno (Italy)

It emerges from a communication of 18 October 2002 that the Commission has initiated infringement
proceedings (proceeding no. 2002/4342) against Italy over degradation of habitat and disruption to species
within Special Protection Area IT5210070 (cid:1) Lake Trasimeno, a situation caused by activities cofinanced
by European funding under the rural development programmes.

This disruption is particularly worrying, given that, as part of the first phase of the project, 1 596 m2 of
marsh reeds, 4 224 m2 of hygrophylous scrub, 6 424 m2 of mixed vegetation, and 6 552 m2 of humid
grassland have already been destroyed to make way for a path (2,5 m wide and 15,67 km long), which is
planned to be around 57 km in length on completion, equal to the entire perimeter of Lake Trasimeno,
leaving no virgin area on its shores where protected wildlife could reproduce or establish itself.

The project in question, cofinanced by the EU, was clearly drawn up without an environmental impact
assessment, and represents a further breach of Directive 92/43/EEC (1), despite the recent ruling against
Italy by the Court of Justice (C-143/02).