WRITTEN QUESTION E-3650/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Extinction of the Iberian lynx in the Sierra Morena nature reserve in Andalusia due to the construction of a large reservoir and lack of compensatory habitat.
Date: 2003-12-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU financing, Spain, engineering structure, environmental impact, protected area, protection of animal life, wild mammal

C 78 E/622

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(2004/C 78 E/0657)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3650/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 December 2003)

Subject: Extinction of the Iberian lynx in the Sierra Morena nature reserve in Andalusia due to the

construction of a large reservoir and lack of compensatory habitat

Can the Commission confirm that the number of Iberian lynxes, shy feline predators, living in the
1.
Sierra Morena nature reserve in the north of the Spanish region of Andalusia, in Doñana national park on
the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir and in Portugal, has fallen from 1 100 in 1989 to 200 now?

Does the Commission assume that efforts to save the Iberian lynx have definitively failed, so that this

2.
species will disappear from the wild in the next few years and be able to survive, at best, only in zoos?

3.
Is the Commission aware that, as a result of the completion of the Breña II dam in 2008, the existing
reservoir in the Guadatio river in the Sierra Morena will be replaced with a new reservoir with a water
level 80 m higher and eight times the water capacity, which will be many kilometres longer?

4. What chances of survival do Iberian lynxes have in the Sierra Morena, a designated Natura 2000
area, if 2000 hectares of their habitat disappears under water and the rest is divided into two?

5.
Is the Commission aware that, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, which has in the past
worked to secure the survival of the lynx in this area with the support of the Commission, the adjoining
land which has been expropriated and which was intended as a wilderness to provide compensation for
the lost area is totally unsuitable as lynx habitat?

6.
Under these circumstances, is the possible EU cofinancing (as requested by Spain) of the new dam,
which is expected to cost EUR 150 million, compatible with the Commission’s nature conservation policy?

Source: Rotterdams Dagblad, 20 November 2003.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 2004)

The Honourable Member has expressed his concern about the situation of the Iberian Lynx in Sierra
Morena (Andalucía).

In October 2002, the Spanish Ministry of Environment and the regional Government of Andalucía with
the support of The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Council of Europe, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
and other partners organised an international meeting to assess the current situation of the Iberian Lynx.
One outcome of the meeting was that a new inventory of the lynx was carried out; according to this there
are currently three main locations of subpopulations. Two of these are breeding populations and are
located in Doñana National Park and Andujar-Cardeña (Sierra Morena, Andalucía).

The Spanish Ministry of Environment has established an ad hoc working group for the Iberian lynx.

This group considers the Spanish population (200-300 individuals), distributed in four sub-populations:

(cid:1) Gata-Granadilla Sierra (Cáceres-Salamanca).

(cid:1) Montes de Toledo (Toledo-Ciudad Real-Cáceres).

(cid:1) Sierra Morena (‘Sierra Morena Central de Cordoba’, ‘Ciudad Real and Jaén’ and ‘Sierras del Relumbrar-

Guadalmena in Ciudad Real and Albacete’).

(cid:1) Doñana and its environment (Sevilla, Huelva).

27.3.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/623

The Commission is assisting, through the LIFE-Nature programme, the national efforts to improve the
conservation status of the species. There have been, over the last decade, a large number of LIFE projects,
both in Spain and Portugal, targeting the Iberian lynx. These projects have included basic inventories and
ecological and biological research on the species, but also improvement or re-creation of habitats,
including corridors, and particularly repopulation of potential
this species
constitutes the main prey for the lynx. The other main action consisted of population monitoring and
surveillance of lynx areas.

lynx areas with rabbits;

A captive breeding programme is presently under way in Spain,
following an agreement with the
Portuguese authorities. Community financing for this programme was not requested, although some
marginal activities related to the programme have been included in some of the above-mentioned LIFE
projects.

La Breña II reservoir is proposed to be built on River Guadiato, close to River Guadalquivir. The dam will
be located 120 metres from the existing ‘La Breña I’ reservoir. Part of the existing ‘La Breña I’ reservoir is
within the Natura 2000 site ‘Sierra de Hornachuelos’. ‘La Breña II’ reservoir will completely flood ‘La Breña
I’ reservoir. The new reservoir will occupy 626 hectares of the Natura 2000 site, which is 1,05 % of its
surface. This reservoir is not located in Sierra Morena.

According to the available information Spain has proposed 2 615 102 hectares as Sites of Community
Importance (SCI) to protect the Iberian Lynx. Specifically the Regional government of Andalucia has
proposed 1 356 845 hectares (36 sites, pSCI).

The compensatory measures plan has received a favourable statement of
Environment of Andalucia and the Spanish Ministry of Environment.
ordination with Iberian Lynx Group, the Doñana Research Station and the University of Córdoba.

the Regional Ministry of
It has been elaborated in co-

The Ministry of Environment, Office of the State Secretary of Water and Coast, has asked the Commission
for an opinion pursuant to Article 6.4 of the Habitat Directive (1), because of the absence of alternative
solutions and for imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including that of a social or economic
nature. It is foreseen that the Commission will shortly deliver its opinion in relation to this project.

(1) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 July 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora,

OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2004/C 78 E/0658)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3651/03

by Cees Bremmer (PPE-DE)
and Bartho Pronk (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 December 2003)

Subject: Poor working conditions for au pairs in the Netherlands

Is the Commission aware of the poor working conditions which apply to 70 % of au pairs in the
Netherlands, who are compelled to perform too much, and excessively heavy, domestic work and to care
for children for more than the permitted 30 hours per week, as revealed by a report by the Netherlands
Ministry of Justice which is as yet unpublished but will be published shortly (according to the Volkskrant
newspaper of 25 November 2003)?

Is the Commission further aware that the proliferation of agencies on the Internet, the lack of any quality
certification system for such agencies, the protracted visa procedures and the high costs, due to which
many au pairs are employed illegally,
lead to a situation in which au pairs’ rights are insufficiently
respected?

Is the Commission aware that these circumstances do not accord with its own recommendation to the
Member States to sign and ratify at the earliest opportunity the Council of Europe’s European Agreement
on au pair placement of 24 November 1969, which lays down rules, inter alia, on working conditions and
the setting-up of national consultative and information bodies?