WRITTEN QUESTION P-0019/04 by Juan Ferrández Lezaun (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Júcar-Vinalopó project.
Date: 2004-01-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, co-financing, fund (EU), hydrology, inland waterway, project management, watercourse

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/151

(2004/C 84 E/0188)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0019/04

by Juan Ferrández Lezaun (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(9 January 2004)

Subject: Júcar-Vinalopó project

On 16 December 2003, Commissioners Barnier and Wallström informed Parliament of the approval of the
Júcar-Vinalopó hydrographic project, subject to it being totally independent of the diversion of the Ebro
and compliant with the framework water directive.

On 18 December, at a press conference, Mr Pascual Fernández, the Spanish secretary of state responsible
for water, said in reply to a question that the only option ruled out was that of ‘using the Júcar-Vinalopó
channels to transport water to the Ebro’, and that, in any case, ‘there are many other rivers in the Júcar
basin and the document refers only to the Júcar, not the basin’.

What is the Commission’s position on these statements by the Spanish government? Can it confirm that
diversions of water from the Ebro basin to the Júcar basin could be financed using Community funds?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2004)

The Commission has re-checked the position with the Spanish authorities and can confirm that there will
be no transfer of water from the River Ebro into the catchment/river basin of the river Jucar. However, the
Jucar river basin district which contains many rivers in addition to the river Jucar, is still scheduled to
receive water from the proposed Ebro transfer. The confusion on this issue arises from the mixing up, on
the one hand, of the term ‘the Jucar catchment/river basin’ which covers the river Jucar and its tributaries
and, on the other hand, the ‘Jucar river basin district’ which is an aggregation of river basins which have
been grouped together for administrative reasons.

(2004/C 84 E/0189)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0020/04

by Fiorella Ghilardotti (PSE), Massimo Carraro (PSE)
and Giovanni Fava (PSE) to the Commission

(20 January 2004)

Subject: Bridge over the Straits of Messina

In an interview that appeared in Il sole 24 ore on 17 December 2003 the Italian Minister for Infrastructure
Pietro Lunardi revealed that European Commissioner Loyola de Palacio had said that the Commission was
prepared to fund the construction of a bridge over the Straits of Messina.

If this report is correct, is the European Commission sure that such a bridge would satisfy all the necessary
requirements to be eligible for Community funding?

In particular, does the Commission not think that it would be more viable, not least in economic and
environmental terms, to support an alternative solution to a bridge over the Straits such as a marine
highway linking Sicily with the mainland?

Does the European Commission not consider that, contrary to the statements made by the Berlusconi
government, this project is too costly to attract private investors and would ultimately impose a severe
burden on the Italian treasury?

Does the Commission not consider that Straits of Messina bridge should be seen as a private project of
trans-European interest as defined by the relevant Commission proposal and the Van Miert report?