92001E1126

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1126/01

by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 April 2001)

Subject: Cais dos Vapores river jetty, Montijo, Portugal

The Civic Platform for the Defence of Cais dos Vapores jetty has informed me that Montijo town council plans to transfer the river station there to another jetty, Cais do Seixalinho.

The citizens' group concerned takes the view that the option chosen by Montijo town council would have a highly negative social and environmental impact.

Can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Has any Community funding been allocated to this project?

2. Given that the area in which Cais do Seixalinho jetty is situated forms part of a significant ecosystem for birds and aquatic species, what type of environmental impact assessment has been carried out?

3. Does this project comply with the Directive on the conservation of wild birds and the Directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 2001)

The project mentioned by the Honourable Member, to transfer the river station from the Cais dos Vapores to the Cais do Seixalinho is not the object of Community co-financing.

The Cais do Seixalinho lies outside the Special Protection Area Estuário do Tejo designated by Portugal under the Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds(1) and the proposed site of Community importance of the same name designated under the Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(2). However, according to article 6 of the Council Directive 92/43/EEC, all projects likely to have a significant impact on the sites, even if located outside those sites, must be subject to an appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site's conservation objectives. The Commission is therefore asking the Portuguese authorities for the necessary information concerning the project, including what type, if any, of impact assessment has been carried out.

The elements supplied by the Portuguese authorities will also allow an evaluation of the compliance with the Council Directive 97/11/EEC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(3).

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.

(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(3) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.