WRITTEN QUESTION E-2145/03 by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Preservation of the Tagliamento (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy) as a wild river.
Date: 2003-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU control, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, application of EU law, environmental impact, environmental protection, hydraulic works, hydrology, impact study, project evaluation, surface water

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Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(7 July 2003)

The Commission ensures safety in the workplace by strictly monitoring the application of Community law.

In this case, the protection of health and safety of workers in general is covered by framework Directive
89/391/EEC (1) and its individual Directives.

The Directives must be transposed into national law by Member States and it is up to them to ensure that
the national provisions transposing Community Directives on the health and safety of workers at work
(cf. Article 4 of Directive 89/391/EEC) are adequately monitored.

It is therefore up to the Italian authorities responsible for monitoring national provisions transposing
Community Directives on the health and safety of workers at work to ensure that these are applied
effectively and correctly.

In this case, therefore, an investigation into the causes of the accident and any measures to be taken as a
result are the responsibility of the national authorities, in particular the relevant labour inspectorate in the
Apulia region, which is authorised to monitor the application of
the legislation transposing the
Community Directives in question.

The Commission will intervene in this case only if there is strong evidence that Community legislation has
not been transposed into national law or has not been properly applied.

(1) Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the

safety and health of workers at work, OJ L 183, 29.6.1989.

(2004/C 51 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2145/03

by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(27 June 2003)

Subject: Preservation of the Tagliamento (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy) as a wild river

In order to protect the town of Latisana, situated in the canalised lower reaches of the Tagliamento river, a
14 km2 flood control reservoir is to be built in the middle course by removing around 30 million m3 of
river gravel.

The Tagliamento forms the last expanse of wild river landscape in the whole of the Alpine region. For this
reason, Italy applied for the section of the river in question to be registered as an FFH and Special
Protection Area in accordance with EU Directives 92/43/EWG (1) and 79/409/EWG (2).

If this flood protection project is carried out, the diverging waters (furcation), whose form changes with
every flood, will be replaced with a single channel. This will obstruct the route along the river for wildlife.
The large and previously shifting gravel deposits will grow in size (succession) and the bed of the
Tagliamento will deepen. This will have far-reaching limnological and environmental consequences for the
river meadows and the flora and fauna (e.g. more than 30 species of fish and 14 species of amphibian)
that inhabit them, upstream and especially downstream from the reservoir. In addition to the permanent
removal of gravel from the flood reservoir, downstream river works such as transverse structures will be
necessary to counteract the deepening of the river and the consequent lowering of the ground-water level.

That flood protection is taken very seriously in Italy is to be welcomed. However, the devastating floods in
Germany and large parts of Europe over the last few years have led to a change in thinking as far as flood
protection is concerned. Constructions are now being avoided, with the focus on providing additional
flood retention plains. On top of that, the EU’s Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC (3)) commits all
Member States to achieving ‘good status’ for all bodies of water. Moreover, Italy signed the internationally

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binding Alpine Convention in 1991, in which the Alpine states pledged their commitment to greater
environmental and water protection. The Friuli-Venezia Giulia region is also under serious threat from
earthquakes, and so a full flood reservoir of this size presents an almost incalculable risk.

Can the Commission ensure that the Tagliamento’s ecosystem will be protected and that alternative flood
protection measures will be considered? Can the Commission monitor whether the project is carried out in
conformity with the Habitat, the Birds and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directives? Does the
Commission believe that that a project of this kind is compatible with the clause in the Water Framework
Directive concerning the maintenance of a good water status?

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.
(2) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(13 August 2003)

The construction of an impoundment for flood prevention in the river Tagliamento will have a certain
impact on the environment. Such a project may fall under several pieces of Community legislation.

Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and
private projects on the environment (1) (EIA Directive) as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of
3 March 1997 (2) provides that Member States must ensure that, before development consent is given,
projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or
location are made subject to an assessment of the environmental effects. These projects are defined in
Article 4 that refers to Annex I and II of the Directive.

Furthermore, the Habitat Directive (3) and the Bird Directive (4) may apply when protected areas have been
designated in the area concerned.

The project in the Tagliamento river was already assessed by the Commission in the context of a
complaint which was closed.

The complainant had claimed that a project for the hydraulic safety of the Tagliamento River had been
approved without EIA procedure and without assessment under Article 6 of the Habitat Directive. This
project entailed the construction of three expanding basins in the framework of the reinforcing works of
Tagliamento river and it was claimed to affect the proposed Nature 2000 Site of Community Importance
(IT3310007: ‘Greto del Tagliamento’), proposed under the Habitat Directive.

The Italian authorities were requested to give information on the issue as regards the application of
Council Directives 92/43/EC and 85/337/EEC.

In response, the Italian authorities informed the Commission that the work was not at the project stage
but it was at the planning stage. Consequently, the EIA Directive would not apply at this stage. The plan
had been approved before that Article 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 of the Directive can be considered applicable to the
Member States. Therefore, it had not been made the subject of the assessment under Article 6.3 of the
Directive. However, the Italian authorities had stated that the project for the three expanding basins will be
made the subject of an assessment under Article 6 of the Habitat Directive. On the basis of this
information, the Commission closed the complaint.

On the basis of the additional information provided by the Honourable Member, the Commission cannot
identify any breach of the Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 92/43/EC. However, the Commission would
be happy to re-assess the case if the Honourable Member submits any new, more detailed information
which may demonstrate that the two Directives are being breached.

The Water Framework Directive (5), which was not assessed in the above-mentioned complaint, provides
for the achievement of a number of environmental objectives embedded in a management plan to be set
up for each river basin district. The Directive entered into force on 22 December 2000 and is currently
being transposed into national legislation which should be completed by the end of 2003.

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Directive 2000/60/EC sets out in Article 4(7) that Member States will not be in breach of the Directive if
the objectives are not met as a result of ‘new modifications to the physical characteristics of surface water
body’. Since the Directive entered into force in December 2000, the project may be considered as a new
modification once it is no longer at the planning stage. In consequence, Italy may apply for such a
derogation in the river basin management plan which will be finalised in 2009.

However, the same paragraph provides for a number of conditions that need to be met when applying
such a derogation. On the basis of the information provided on the project, it is not possible to assess
whether the project would fulfil the criteria set out in Article 4(7). In addition, paragraphs 8 and 9 of
Article 4 also apply for the derogation of ‘new modifications’. Paragraph 8 requires that other bodies of
water in the same river basin are not affected by the new modification in such a way that they cannot
achieve the objectives of the Directive. Finally, paragraph 9 ensures that at least the same level of
protection as in other existing Community legislation is achieved when applying the derogations in
Article 4.

In conclusion, the Commission will assess any new information on the case that is brought to its attention
in relation to Council Directives 85/337/EEC, 92/43/EC and 2000/60/EC, once the project stage is reached.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(3) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.
(4) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds.
(5) Directive 2000/60/EC of the Parliament and of the council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for

Community action in the field of water policy.

(2004/C 51 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2147/03

by Nuala Ahern (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(27 June 2003)

Subject: Renewed agreement on cooperation in science and technology

Will the renewed agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community
and the Government of the Russian Federation as set out in the Proposal for a Council Decision (1) dated
27 February 2003, permit the use of Community resources in support of collaborative research in the
management of plutonium as a waste, or as a component of MOX fuel; and does it permit the involvement
of the European Union’s nuclear fuel industry (cid:1) including BNFL’s Sellafield plant and Cogema’s La Hague
and MELOX plants?

(1) COM(2003) 95 final.

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(5 August 2003)

The Proposal for a Council Decision, dated 27 February 2003, refers to the ‘Agreement on Co-operation in
science and technology between the European Community and the Government of the Russian Federation’
under the EC Treaty. It does not concern research on the subjects mentioned in the question, which would
be relevant to the Euratom Treaty.

The Euratom collaborative research activities are encompassed within the Cooperation Agreements
between the ‘European Atomic Energy Community and the Government of the Russian Federation in the
fields of Nuclear Safety and Controlled Nuclear Fusion’, signed on 27 September 2001. While collaborative
research on the subjects included in the question is not excluded by the agreement, no such research
cooperation is planned.