(2004/C 84 E/0848)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0044/04

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(20 January 2004)

Subject:   Val Jumela

Article 3 of Directive 92/43/EEC (1) states that a coherent European ecological network of special areas of conservation is to be set up under the title ‘Natura 2000’.

Article 4 of the directive sets out the procedure for defining this network: first of all a draft list of sites of Community importance is proposed by the Member States; a list of sites of Community importance (SCI) is subsequently adopted by the Commission on the basis of the proposals; finally, the SCI are classified as special areas of conservation by the Member States.

Article 6 lays down the conservation measures for the special areas of conservation. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 4(5), as soon as a site is placed on the list of sites of Community importance it is subject to the provisions of Article 6.

In the context of the designation procedure referred to above, the Member States take account of the presence in the sites of habitats and species of Community interest mentioned in Annexes I and II to the directive.

The Val Jumela (part of the territory of the Val di Fassa) is the only site where there is still a population of Botrychium simplex, an endemic plant species included in Annex II to Directive 92/43/EEC.

Can the Commission say whether, on the basis of the criteria applicable for drawing up the list of sites of Community importance, the Val Jumela is to be included in the list of SCIs in the Alpine biogeographic region and, if not, why not?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(23 February 2004)

The list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine region was adopted by the Commission on 22 December 2003. This list does not include the area of Val Jumela in the Trento Autonomous Province.

The list of sites adopted by the Commission was based on proposal by the national authorities, and its ability to reach the objectives of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, was assessed by the Commission through a process of bio-geographic seminars, in collaboration with the Topic Centre for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity of the European Environment Agency. This process had the active participation of environmental nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), land-owners' organisations and independent experts.

The last bio-geographic seminar for the Alpine region took place in Brussels on 11 and 12 October 2001, and concluded that the site proposed by Italy for the species Botrychium simplex (‘Dolomiti di Brenta’) was the only one in which the species had been signalled.

In April 2003, the Commission was informed by the regional section of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that the only site for this plant species is actually Val Jumela and, in further exchanges of correspondence, that the indication of the species in the site ‘Dolomiti di Brenta’ was based on an old bibliographic reference but that no plants of this species had been identified in the site for a long time. Unfortunately, this information was received by the Commission only at a time when the assessment of the list for the Alpine region had been finalised, and it was impossible to re-open the discussion on designation of individual sites.

At this time, the main priority for the Commission is to complete the adoption of the lists of sites of Community importance for all bio-geographic regions. That process is expected to be concluded in 2004 for the present 15 Member States. Only after that will the Commission be able to start making changes to the adopted lists on the basis of new proposals by the Member States. In the meantime, Member States can, of course, adopt measures for the protection of this or other species through their national or regional legislation.

The Italian authorities are aware of the exchange of information concerning Botrychium simplex.

(1)  OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.