92001E0809

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0809/01

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(19 March 2001)

Subject: Thameslink 2000 project

Railtrack PLC, a London-based company, has proposed the Thameslink 2000 scheme, at present the subject of a Transport & Works Act public inquiry, requiring the construction of a series of new steel and concrete viaducts through the Borough Market. The project involves the total demolition of 16 buildings, nine listed Grade II (including the whole of the Georgian Terrace designed by Sir Robert Smirke, architect of the British Museum) and the reconfiguration of a further eight, seven of which are listed, in the heart of the Borough Street Conservation area.

The Borough Market is the oldest municipal fruit and vegetable market still trading on its original site, where Shakespeare acted and Dickens lived, and has recently seen a remarkable regeneration with the establishment of Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It is of such unique environmental significance and quality that there should be a presumption against permitting the irreparable damage the project would cause. In the light of the 1954 European Convention and the 1985 Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, will the Commission intervene and investigate the matter?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2001)

Article 151 (ex Article 128) of the EC Treaty gives the Community the power to encourage co-operation between Member States in the sphere of culture. The question raised by the Honourable Member is not within the Community's jurisdiction; by virtue of the principle of subsidiarity, it is the exclusive responsibility of the Member State.

Moreover, the Community is not a party to the European Cultural Convention of 19 December 1954 or to the Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe of 3 October 1985; it is therefore not within the Commission's remit to examine possible infringements.