WRITTEN QUESTION E-3196/03 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Problems with construction activity, the protection of forests and building cooperatives in Greece.
Date: 2003-10-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, cooperative, forest, illegal building, real property, wooded area

C 78 E/788

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(2004/C 78 E/0838)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3195/03

by Ursula Stenzel (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 October 2003)

Subject: Recognition of the profession of (clinical) optometrist

Does the fact that that the profession of (clinical) optometrist, which is already well established in EU
territory, particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, does not exist in Austria and
that EU citizens who have gained licences to practise their profession of (clinical) optometry in other EU
Member States are barred from doing so in Austria represent a violation of European law, particularly with
regard to freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services?

Under European law, should Member States where the profession of (clinical) optometrist is not regulated
by law not recognise this profession, enabling EU citizens to practise their profession under the same
conditions in any EU Member State?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(1 December 2003)

Under the settled case law of the Court of Justice,
in the absence of harmonisation of a particular
professional activity Member States are in principle entitled to regulate the exercise of that activity,
provided they respect the basic freedoms guaranteed by the EC Treaty (Judgment of 11 July 2002, Case
C-294/00, Deutsche Paracelsus Schulen für Naturheilverfahren GmbH v. Kurt Gräbner).

According to the information available to the Commission, there is no exact Austrian equivalent of the
profession of clinical optometrist as it exists in other Member States. In Austria this activity appears to be
reserved for doctors.

In its Bouchoucha and Mac Quen judgments (Judgments of 3 October 1990, Case C-61/89, and
1 February 2001, Case C-108/96), the Court of Justice stated that a Member State was not in breach of
Article 43 of the EC Treaty if it introduced such a restriction on grounds of the general interest in the
protection of public health.

In this connection, it should also be pointed out that according to Article 46(1) of the EC Treaty the
protection of public health is one of the grounds which can justify restrictions on the freedom of
establishment. Under Article 55 of the Treaty, the provisions of Article 46(1) also apply to the freedom to
provide services.

The Commission is not in possession of any further information which would establish an infringement of
Community law.

(2004/C 78 E/0839)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3196/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 October 2003)

Subject: Problems with construction activity, the protection of forests and building cooperatives in Greece

Over recent years in particular the situation in Greece regarding construction activity, the protection of
forests and building cooperatives has become quite chaotic. The recent suicide (12 October 2003) of a
public official
in Athens focused public attention on the situation regarding the issuing of planning
permission in a country where hundreds of thousands of unauthorised buildings have already been put up
(according to statements by Mrs Vasso Papandreos the Minister responsible) and concerning the political
pressure being brought to bear on Greek public servants.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/789

In Greece there are a large number of building cooperatives with thousands of members who have for
decades been paying annual (and additional) contributions (for example, the ‘I YGEIA SYN.PE’ medical
cooperative in Saronida in Attica, founded in 1965 with 3090 members), without securing entitlement to
building plots, despite the fact that many of these cooperatives are clearly situated outside forest areas.
Members therefore are justifiably sceptical, while the Greek Government, which has ‘quite by chance’
suddenly remembered the existence of building cooperatives in the run-up to the Greek general elections,
is also expressing concern regarding the political nature of this deadlock.

Furthermore, serious problems are arising in Greece regarding the new forestry bill and the quality of the
thousands of unauthorised buildings which were put up rapidly and without planning permission or
technical inspections to ensure that they are sufficiently stable. The owners of these unauthorised buildings
have for years been misled by the Government, which keeps postponing action to resolve their pressing
problems. At the same time the question of social justice arises for thousands of Greek citizens who feel
they have been treated unfairly, having paid large sums for planning permission while others have put up
houses without obtaining and paying for such permission.

In what other Member State of the European Union does unauthorised building take place on the same
scale as in Greece? What information has the Commission received from the Greek authorities regarding
the standard of workmanship of unauthorised buildings in Greece, where 52 % of EU seismic activity is
concentrated? What precise definition of forest and forest land are being used for the purposes of
Community legislation? Is there a case to be made regarding the members of building cooperatives who
have been paying contributions for decades without obtaining building plots?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(4 December 2003)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that it is not aware of statistics or
information on unauthorised building in different Member States, thus the Commission can not assess the
scale of unauthorised building in Greece. Furthermore, the Commission has never received information
from the Greek authorities about the standards of workmanship of unauthorised buildings in Greece.

With regard to the definition of forest and forest land, the Commission would like to indicate that the
Union Forestry Strategy does not include a definition of forest and forest land. National definitions of
instruments. The Regulation on
forests and forest land apply for Community legislation and financial
‘Forest Focus’, that has recently been approved, includes a definition of ‘forest’ and ‘other wooded land’,
applicable to the actions that the Regulation will support.

The issue of the members of building co-operatives who have not yet received land although paying
contributions to the building co-operative is a matter for national authorities and as such is regulated by
national laws.

(2004/C 78 E/0840)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3203/03

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(30 October 2003)

Subject: Treatment of hospital waste in Attica

According to the ESDKNA (Association of Municipalities and Rural Communities of the Prefecture of
Attica) most hospitals and private clinics in Attica do not send their hospital waste for incineration to the
plant which is specifically intended for this purpose but prefer to use their own incinerating plant which
fails to meet the necessary specifications (temperatures of 100 ° only compared with 1 600 ° in the
ESDKNA plant), while in many cases such waste is simply buried along with domestic waste at designated
sites. According to newspaper reports, of the 25 tonnes of hospital waste produced each day in Attica,
only three tonnes is sent to the association’s specialist incineration plant.

What provisions of Community legislation apply here? What is the situation in other Member States?