WRITTEN QUESTION E-3928/03 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Forests and building cooperatives in Greece.
Date: 2003-12-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law - national law, Greece, building industry, building regulations, cooperative, forest, illegal building, town-planning regulations, wooded area

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/117

Commission will fulfil its role of ensuring that Community law, and the new framework in particular,
is applied in a consistent manner, in accordance with the objectives laid down by Community law itself.

(1) Commission Decision 2002/627/EC of 29 July 2002 establishing the European Regulators Group for Electronic

Communications Networks and Services, Recital 7, OJ L 200, 30.7.2002.

(2004/C 84 E/0152)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3912/03

by Ole Krarup (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 December 2003)

Subject: Oil extraction in the North Sea

Can the Commission state, as regards the Danish government’s agreement with A.P. Møller and the Dansk
Undergrund Consortium on the conditions for oil extraction over the next 40 years in the North Sea,
whether the clause in the agreement protecting the concession holders from additional taxation, has been
notified as a state aid in accordance with Article 88(3) of the Treaty? If the agreement has not been
notified, can the Commission state whether agreements between governments and private concession
holders which grant the latter tax relief for a long period in the future should be regarded as state aids?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2004)

The Commission would point out that it was not given prior notification of the agreement to which the
Honourable Member refers under Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty. However, the Danish authorities have sent
the detailed documents on the agreement. These documents are currently under study, and the
Commission cannot at this stage give a decision as to the type of measure.

The Commission would recall that as a general rule tax relief confined to certain activities or certain firms
could constitute state aid.

(2004/C 84 E/0153)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3928/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2003)

Subject: Forests and building cooperatives in Greece

In her answer to my question E-3196/03, Commissioner Wallström states that ‘the Commission 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.’ She goes on to state that ‘the
the standards of
received information from the Greek authorities about
Commission has never
workmanship of unauthorised buildings in Greece.’ In the same answer she states:
‘The Regulation on
’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.’ Finally she points out that: ‘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.’

I regret to note that the answer provided by the (very active) Commissioner is unsatisfactory, since a report
specifically on unauthorised buildings was published in the Greek press on 5 December 2003, stating that
the shoddy workmanship of such buildings ‘will fill Athens with coffins in the event of an earthquake

C 84 E/118

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

measuring 6 on the Richter scale’, while on the same day the Greek media were practically unanimous in
condemning the government’s adoption of a law which threatens the survival of the few remaining forests
in Greece. It is also noticeable that the Commissioner does not seem to be concerned about the fact that
thousands of Greek citizens have been paying contributions to building cooperatives (cid:1) often for decades
(cid:1) without receiving any benefits.

Will the Commission say whether under Community law this represents a violation of the rights (cid:1) and
exploitation (cid:1) of thousands of Community nationals who pay contributions to cooperatives without
receiving any benefit whatsoever? Since the Greek authorities have not forwarded information about
request details about workmanship?
unauthorised buildings, why does the Commission itself not
Will Commissioner Wallström say what definitions of ‘forest’ and ‘wooded land’ are contained in the
Directive to which she refers in her answer?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(2 February 2004)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that is not aware of the content of media
reports on unauthorised buildings in Greece, which were published in the Greek press on 5 December
2003. As stated in its previous reply to the Honourable Member’s written question E-3196/03 (1) on
4 December 2003, the Commission has no statistics or information on unauthorised building in different
Member States. As there is no binding Community legislation regarding building activity and standards, the
procedures for granting building permissions are exclusively regulated by national legislation and the issue
falls within the competence of the Greek authorities. Therefore, the Commission does not intend to request
details about workmanship standards applied to illegal (unauthorised) buildings in Greece.

forests and forest

With regard to the definition of forest and wooded land, the Commission indicated in its first reply that
the Union Forestry Strategy does not include an Union wide definition of forest and wooded land. National
definitions of
instruments.
The Commission would like to stress that Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 of the Parliament
and of the Council of 17 November 2003, concerning the monitoring of forests and environmental
interactions in the Community (Forest Focus) (2) provides definitions for ‘forest’, ‘other wooded land’ and
‘other land’. These definitions have to be respected and implemented by Member States for the purposes of
the above mentioned Regulation and the monitoring actions that the Regulation supports, however, their
application is bound solely to this Regulation.

land applies for Community legislation and financial

Regarding the issue of citizens who pay contributions to building co-operatives without receiving any
benefits as yet, the Commission would like to maintain its position, according to which there is no
Community competence and the issue is regulated by national laws.

(1) OJ C 78 E, 27.3.2004, p. 788.
(2) OJ L 324, 11.12.2003.

(2004/C 84 E/0154)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3930/03

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Retention of privileges by the Agricultural Bank of Greece

(16 December 2003)

Under Article 26(4) of N 1914/1990, ‘all the special arrangements which apply to the Agricultural Bank of
Greece, with particular reference to its substantive and procedural privileges, to its immunities in respect of
tax and other matters, to its debt instruments, to the guaranteeing of its debts and in general to its legal
personality as an entity possessing rights and subject to obligations’ remain in force and are applied
unchanged even following the conversion of the Agricultural Bank of Greece (ATE) into a limited liability
company. On the basis of this provision the ATE, in its transactions with its customers, makes use of the