WRITTEN QUESTION E-3870/03 by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Ecological volume of the river Júcar and the Júcar-Vinalopó water transfer.
Date: 2003-12-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, application of EU law, environmental law, water management, water management in agriculture, water protection, watercourse

3.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/741

(2004/C 84 E/0836)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3840/03

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

(12 December 2003)

Subject: Race Directive (2000/43/EC)

Has the Commission been in contact with the Irish Government over its failure to implement the equal
treatment between persons without racial and ethnic discrimination in employment and the social sector
(cid:1) Directive 2000/43/EC (1), which should have been implemented in Ireland by 19 July 2003? What has
been the Government’s response? What action is the Commission taking or proposing to take to ensure
that all people living in Ireland enjoy the full protection of this legislation?

(1) OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2004)

Member States had to transpose Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the
principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin by 19 July 2003 at the
latest.

Ireland has not formally notified to the Commission its transposition of Directive 2000/43/EC. Ireland has
informed the Commission that technical amendments to its Employment Equality Act and Equal Status Act
are necessary to ensure full compliance with the anti-discrimination Directives. The Irish authorities sent a
copy of the proposed Equality Bill to the Commission on 16 January 2004 and its progress and entry into
force depends upon the Irish Parliamentary timetable.

The Commission is committed to its role as guardian of the Treaties, and has already formally started
infringement proceedings against Ireland (and a number of other Member States) over its failure to notify
its implementation measures for Directive 2000/43/EC (by the deadline of 19 July 2003).

(2004/C 84 E/0837)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3870/03

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 December 2003)

Subject: Ecological volume of the river Júcar and the Júcar-Vinalopó water transfer

The gauge readings for the volume of the river Júcar at Cullera (the last gauge before the river reaches its
mouth), which have been taken every day from 1 January 1995 until 24 November 2003 by the Júcar
Hydrographic Confederation, give an average of 80,4 hm3 per year (minimum 25,1 hm3 in 1999 and
maximum 175,3 hm3 in 1997). The Júcar-Vinalopó canal which the Commission is supposed to be
funding provides for a water transfer of 80 hm3 per year, a figure which is totally unviable for a river as
exhausted as the Júcar. It should be remembered that its total ‘natural contribution’ is officially of the order
of 1 600 hm3 per year, barely 5 % of which reaches the sea at present. And it is precisely the average of
what reaches the sea that is supposed to be going to be transferred. On certain days, the gauge readings
are effectively zero, which means that there is either no water passing or the levels are so low that the flow
meter does not register them (i.e. a few litres per second). After this gauge, the river has no further
tributaries other than a few irrigation drains, of no significance, because most of these irrigation drains run
into the sea elsewhere. In the natural year 2002, the Júcar registered no contribution at all at its mouth on

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3.4.2004

219 days (i.e. 60 % of the year), which means that it ceased to flow out at Cullera. It should be noted that
both the Júcar Basin Hydrological Plan and the National Hydrological Plan assign the total remaining
resources of the Júcar in Tous to various uses or reserves for extraction. This explains the tiny ecological
water flow between Tous and Antella, and the absence of any ecological water flow from Antella onwards:
the planning administration was aware that it had assigned the river’s entire resources to various users, and
was therefore unable legally to establish an ecological water flow, since there were no resources to do so.

How does the Commission intend to apply the principle of ‘no deterioration’, and demand a minimum
in accordance with Framework Water Directive 2000/60/EC (1) under these
ecological water flow,
that the middle and lower reaches of the Júcar are a Site of
furthermore,
conditions, considering,
Community Interest under Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC (2)?

And how can the Commission claim that this water transfer is ecologically viable, when it is obvious that
for half of most years the river cannot supply the water transfer even if its own flow were completely
eliminated, and taking account of the fact that the envisaged savings in traditional agriculture are utterly
implausible and would be to the detriment of the Albufera Natural Park?

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

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2004)

The Commission is aware of the extremely low flows in the lower reaches of the Júcar river.

The proposed transfer of water from the Júcar to the Vinalopó is based on the assumption that significant
savings of water use will be made in the upper reaches of the Júcar as a result of improvements to be
made to the irrigation systems in the region. The water which is ‘saved’ as a result of these improvements
in efficiency will be transferred to the Vinalopó. Given that the water which is planned to be transferred
will become available as a result of savings in current water use, the Commission does not believe there
will be any deterioration in the status of the Júcar as a result of the proposed transfer.

The Hydrological Plan of the Júcar river watershed also considers the improvement of the traditional
irrigation systems deserved by the ‘Acequia Real del Jucar’, which may result in new ‘saved’ resources
available for the lower reaches of the river.

With regard to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (1), the requirement to achieve good
ecological and chemical status by 2015 will apply to the river Júcar in the same way that it applies to all
bodies of surface water in the EU. Similarly, the requirements of the Habitats Directive (2) must also be
respected.

(1) 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, OJ L 192, 20.7.2002.

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

OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2004/C 84 E/0838)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3924/03

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Seaworthiness of the Geroi Sevastopolya

(16 December 2003)

The Russian single-hulled vessel, the Geroi Sevastopolya, has set sail from the Latvian port of Ventspils
with 55 000 tonnes of fuel similar to the kind the Prestige was carrying. According to information
published in the media, the 24-year-old tanker is not in the best condition for sailing, obliging the
Commission to send inspectors to Latvia, as a preventative measure, to examine its state of repair.