WRITTEN QUESTION P-3667/03 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Building of a dam in the lower Sabor.
Date: 2003-12-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Portugal, complaint to the Commission, engineering structure, environmental impact, environmental protection, protected area

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/849

(2004/C 78 E/0902)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3667/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(2 December 2003)

Subject: Building of a dam in the lower Sabor

The River Sabor, which rises in Spain,
through the province of Trás-os-Montes,
Moncorvo.

in the Parada mountains, runs for over a hundred kilometres
in Portugal, and flows into the River Douro near Torre de

The Sabor valley has a great variety of habitats and plant and animal species: 17 of the different kinds of
habitats to be found there are included in the Community Habitats Directive (transposed into Portuguese
domestic law by Executive Law No 140/99), and four of these are regarded as conservation priorities.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project to build a dam in the lower Sabor states that,
the site under study is an area with distinctive and indeed unique
as far as flora is concerned,
characteristics in the Portuguese national context. The Sabor valley also has the most extensive and best
preserved holm-oak and cork oak groves in Trás-os-Montes, remnants of the Mediterranean forest that
long ago was presumably the main feature throughout the Terra Quente region of Trás-os-Montes. In
addition, olive trees are grown on a substantial scale in the region, which produces high-grade olive oil.

The importance of the Sabor valley from the point of view of fauna has been recognised to the extent that
the site covered by the dam project is encompassed wholly within a Special Protection Area and partly
within the Natura 2000 network.

The valley likewise has significant assets of ethnographic, historical, and archaeological
closely linked to the traditions of the local population.

interest, some

Furthermore, the fact that the International Douro Natural Park and the Côa Archaeology Park are situated
nearby could be turned to account for sustainable development.

1. Will Community funding be provided for the plan to build a dam on the River Sabor?

2. What Community support can be granted to promote an alternative sustainable development project
for the Sabor valley, to protect and enhance its natural, landscape, and cultural heritage, without building
the dam?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(8 January 2004)

The Project to build a dam in the Sabor River in Trás-os-Montes was the object of a complaint to the
Commission, which was registered under number 2003/4523. The complaint concerns the possible
infringement of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (1) and
Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
flora (2).

The complaint concerns the possible damage to the sites of Community interest proposed by Portugal
under Directive 92/43/EEC ‘Morais’ and ‘Rios Sabor e Maçãs’ as well as to the special protection area ‘Rios
Sabor e Maçãs’ designated by Portugal under Directive 79/409/EEC. The Commission has written to the
Portuguese authorities requesting information on the situation in the light of Community Law.

The Portuguese authorities have not requested Community financing for the project.

The zone concerned by this project is included in the Objective 1 areas for structural funds. Projects for
the sustainable development of the area, therefore, qualify generally for Community co-financing. The
management of those funds at national level is the responsibility of the Portuguese authorities. Projects for

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Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

the protection of the natural values that led to the inclusion in the Natura 2000 network of the sites
mentioned above are also eligible for Community co-financing in the framework of the LIFE-Nature
programme. The Commission’s proposal for a new Regulation extending the LIFE programme until the end
of 2006 is presently being discussed in the Council and Parliament and, therefore, details are not yet
available.

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2004/C 78 E/0903)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3698/03

by Torben Lund (PSE) to the Commission

(10 December 2003)

Subject: Contravention of ban on fishing with drift nets and of the habitats directive

CNN’s home page revealed on 24 November 2003 how dolphins are being killed in their ten thousands
because fishermen in the Mediterranean area are using illegal drift nets. As well as dolphins, these drift nets
are also killing sharks and turtles.

According to CNN, both Italian and French fishermen are contravening the ban on drift net fishing and
therefore appear to be in breach of Council Regulation (EC) No 1239/98 of 8 June 1998 (1) amending
Regulation (EC) No 894/97 (2) laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery
resources as well as Article 12(4) of the habitats directive.

Can the Commission state whether the CNN report is correct and, if so, what action it intends to take in
the light of this information and when it intends to intervene? How does it consider that this information
can be reconciled with existing EU legislation? What will the consequences be for a fisherman caught in
the act of fishing with illegal drift nets and how does the Commission anticipate that fishermen in other
countries will perceive these infringements and themselves be motivated to comply with the EU legislation?

According to CNN, there are at least 75 French vessels and at least 100 Italian ones fishing illegally with
drift nets and it would be scandalous if the Commission were not to intervene immediately to save more
dolphins from being killed.

(1) OJ L 171, 17.6.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 132, 23.5.1997, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 2004)

We do not have detailed particulars of the CNN website presentation of 24 November 2003 to which the
Honourable Member refers but have been told about use of drift nets in the Mediterranean by certain
Community vessels. We are assessing the situation and have already been in contact with the relevant
authorities.

Using drift nets to take certain migratory species is now an infringement of Community law. Fisherman
doing so are therefore liable to administrative penalisation or criminal proceedings under the provisions
that Member States are required to introduce by the Regulation on conservation and sustainable
exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy and the Regulation establishing a
control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (1).