WRITTEN QUESTION E-0020/04 by Fiorella Ghilardotti (PSE), Massimo Carraro (PSE)and Giovanni Fava (PSE) to the Commission. Bridge over the Straits of Messina.
Date: 2004-01-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community trunk route, Sicily, eligibility criteria, engineering structure, environmental impact, financing method, project evaluation, strait, trans-European network

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?

C 84 E/152

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Finally, has the Commission received the requisite guarantees from the Italian government as to the
environmental sustainability of the project?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 March 2004)

The Messina Strait Bridge project is among the 29 priority projects identified in the Commission’s proposal
to revise the Community guidelines for the development of
the trans-European transport network
(TEN-T) (1). The inclusion of this project in the priority list, as part of project No 1 ‘the Mixed Rail axis
Berlin-Verona/Milan-Bologna-Naples-Messina-Palermo’,
the High Level
Group chaired by Mr Van Miert. However, implementation of the project is under Italian responsibility.

follows the recommendation of

Under the 2000-2006 Structural Fund programming, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is
due to co-finance the Rome-Naples-Salerno high-speed rail link, the technological modernisation of the
Salerno-Reggio Calabria and Messina-Palermo links and the doubling of the track between Messina and
Palermo. As yet, the Italian authorities have not requested any financing to build the high-speed line on the
Salerno-Reggio Calabria and Messina-Palermo links.

Motorways of the Sea are a new concept designed to support the development of trans-national maritime
links between Member States. In that sense, they cannot be seen as an alternative to the Messina Strait
Bridge, which may provide the infrastructure for further distribution of rail and road flows between Italy
and Sicily.

Private funding could provide a partial answer to the project’s financial requirements. However, the
Commission is not yet in a position to assess the level of public funding required.

The Commission would underline that the Messina Strait bridge represents not a private initiative but an
important connection between the mainland and the largest and most populated island in the
Mediterranean.

Once the Commission’s proposal has been approved by the Council and Parliament, any request from the
Italian Government concerning funding for the construction of the Messina Strait bridge from the trans-
European transport network budget will require an in-depth appraisal by the Commission, particularly
with regard to the environmental protection provisions of Article 8 of the TEN-T Guidelines and other
criteria, such as economic viability, specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 of 18 September
1995 (2) on the granting of financial aid to the TENs.

The project for a bridge over the Strait of Messina is covered by the provisions of Council Directive
85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 (3) as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (4).
In addition,
an appropriate assessment from the point of view of nature conservation will also have to be carried out,
in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the
conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (5). This assessment can be performed within
the framework of the environmental impact assessment mentioned above or as a separate assessment.

The Commission has registered a complaint on the application of the abovementioned Directives to this
specific project, which will be examined carefully to ensure that the relevant Community law has been
observed.

(1) COM(2003) 564.
(2) OJ L 228, 23.9.1995.
(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(4) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(5) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.