WRITTEN QUESTION E-3203/03 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Treatment of hospital waste in Attica.
Date: 2003-10-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Attica, application of EU law, hospital waste, waste incineration, waste management

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?

C 78 E/790

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(27 November 2003)

The following Community legislation is the most relevant that applies to the management of animal and
human health care waste:

(cid:1) Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (1);

(cid:1) Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (2);

(cid:1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments

of waste within, into and out of the European Community (3);

(cid:1) Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging

waste (4);

(cid:1) Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste (5);

(cid:1) Directive 2000/76/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration

of waste (6);

(cid:1) Commission Decision of 16 January 2001 (7) amending Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May

2000 (8) as regards the list of wastes;

(cid:1) Council Decision 2003/33/EC of 19 December 2002 establishing criteria and procedures for the
acceptance of waste at landfills pursuant to Article 16 of and Annex II to Directive 1999/31/EC (9).

The implementation of the Directives on waste, on hazardous waste and on packaging and packaging
waste is described in the report
from the Commission to the Council and the Parliament on the
Implementation of Community Legislation (10). The report does not provide details on the amount of
human health care waste recovered or disposed.

Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste
statistics (11) will, amongst other things, provide Community statistics on the production and management
of health care wastes on a regular basis. The Commission will submit the first report to the Parliament and
the Council on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation by the end of 2007.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.
(2) OJ L 377, 31.12.1991.
(3) OJ L 30, 6.2.1993.
(4) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994.
(5) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999.
(6) OJ L 332, 28.12.2000.
(7) OJ L 47, 16.2.2001.
(8) OJ L 226, 6.9.2000.
(9) OJ L 11, 16.1.2003.
(10) COM(2003) 250 final, http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/rpt/2003/com2003_0250en03.pdf
(11) OJ L 332, 9.12.2002.

(2004/C 78 E/0841)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3213/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 October 2003)

Subject: Take-up of Community funding in the cultural sector in Greece

Can the Commission indicate the precise take-up of Community funding allocated under the second and
third Community support framework (CSF) in the cultural sector in Greece? What are the principal cultural
initiatives which have received such funding in Greece and what exact amounts have been allocated to
each under the third CSF?