WRITTEN QUESTION E-0602/04 by María Bergaz Conesa (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Global assessment of the major Ebro water transfer project.
Date: 2004-02-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, European Commission, European Investment Bank, Spain, hydraulic works, public opinion

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/817

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(25 March 2004)

Regarding the question of whether the fact that the President and board members of the football League (cid:1)
as opposed to chairmen of amateur clubs (cid:1) are remunerated, amounts to a distortion of competition or
involves serious irregularities with respect to the law governing the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the
Commission wishes to indicate the following:

(cid:1) as regards a possible infringement of competition rules, this could only arise in connection to
behaviour of undertakings or from the granting of State aid to undertakings. The circumstances
described in the question do not seem to concern undertakings and are, therefore, outside the scope of
the competition rules of the EC Treaty;

(cid:1) the Honourable Member states that the remunerations paid are questionable from a tax point of view.
In that respect, the Commission would like to point out that Member States are free to set their own
rules regarding direct taxation, as long as they do not infringe the EC Treaty or any relevant secondary
Community legislation. In this case there appears to be no such infringement;

(cid:1) as regards possible irregularities with respect to the law governing the Italian Football Federation
(FIGC) these are matters outside the competence of the Commission. Indeed, the Commission recalls
that the Union does not have a specific competence in the field of sport, which is organised by
sporting organisations. Nevertheless,
the Commission agrees on the important and positive
contribution of voluntariness and has included it among the objectives of the European Year of
Education through Sport 2004.

(2004/C 84 E/0912)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0602/04

by María Bergaz Conesa (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 February 2004)

Subject: Global assessment of the major Ebro water transfer project

On 16 December 2003, before the Committee on the Environment, and on various later occasions,
Commissioner Barnier stated that the Commission was going to carry out a global assessment of the Ebro
water transfer project, since this was a ‘mega scheme’. Another project, previously assessed by the
Commission was the water transfer from the Júcar to the Vinalopó, using the services of the EIB. The EIB
study has been criticised for its partiality, and for the lack of involvement of all the parties involved, since
the EIB merely consulted the local administrations and groups which were in favour of the transfer.

Is the Commission going to use the EIB to assess the Ebro transfer?

How does the Commission intend to rectify the omission of public participation in its assessment of the
Júcar (cid:1) Vinalopó transfer and in that of the Ebro transfer?

Does the Commission intend to push for consultations at local
Brussels?

level and fresh technical meetings in

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2004)

The projects regarding the Ebro river transfer, submitted by the Spanish authorities for co-financing
through Community funds, are under evaluation by the Commission. As announced, they are being
evaluated as a single global project.

C 84 E/818

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

According to the provisions of Article 26.2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999
laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds (1), and with Article 13.2 and 13.3 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund (2), the Commission may
consult, where necessary, the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the appraisal of projects.

The EIB works as an independent consultant. The Commission is not involved in this process.

In the light of all the relevant information and analyses, the Commission will make its own assessment of
the project in the context of its responsibilities laid down in the above-mentioned regulations and in
partnership with the Spanish authorities concerned. Where necessary, it may decide to convene additional
technical meetings on the project.

The Commission is required to adopt each decision concerning support from the Structural Funds and
Cohesion in line with the relevant Community Regulations and in full compliance with all the other
applicable Community policies and legislation.

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.
(2) OJ L 130, 25.5.1994.

(2004/C 84 E/0913)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0608/04

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: The Commission’s political intentions re GMOs

(23 February 2004)

On 18 December 2003, report A5-0465/2003 relating to the coexistence between genetically modified
crops and conventional and organic crops was adopted by a great majority of MEPs in the European
Parliament.

Bearing this in mind can the Commission tell the European Parliament of its political intentions with
regard to the following issues:

(cid:1) Will the Commission stipulate the labelling of GMOs in seed at the technically measurable and reliable
detection threshold on the basis of Article 21(2) of Directive 2001/18/EC (1), and take into account the
scientific assessments regarding practical applicability (paragraph 2)?

(cid:1) Will the Commission establish uniform and binding rules without delay at the Community level on
the coexistence of genetically modified crops and non-genetically modified conventional crops, and
call for the European Parliament to be included in this process under the codecision procedure
(paragraph 3)?

(cid:1) Will the Commission submit a proposal on Community-wide civil liability provisions for sufficient
insurance coverage on the part of the applicant, as a component of the authorisation procedure for
placing GMOs on the market (paragraph 8)?

(cid:1) Finally, will the Commission make a formal commitment not to proceed with the approval of the
release of any further genetically modified varieties of plant until such time as binding rules on
coexistence, backed up by a system of liability based firmly on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, have been
agreed and implemented?

(1) OJ L 106, 17.4.2001, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(31 March 2004)

In terms of thresholds, Article 21(2) of Directive 2001/18/EC (1) provides for the possibility to derogate
from labelling requirements where adventitious or technically unavoidable traces of GMOs cannot be
excluded in other products. The Commission is currently preparing a decision concerning labelling
thresholds for GM seeds, under this Article, below which the adventitious presence of GM seeds in