WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3554/97 by Petrus CORNELISSEN to the Commission. Tourist tax
25. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 158/149 This requires the construction of a new section with a tunnel in Guadarrama, connecting the service to the whole of the north-east peninsula. However, the national budget estimates cover only a small part of the amount needed for this project to bring high-speed trains to Galicia, which needs them as a matter of urgency. Does the Commission consider that assistance with the cost of bringing high-speed trains to Galicia, 173 500 million pesetas in total, could be provided from the cohesion funds allocated to Spain and does it believe that the need to break the regionís isolation from the rail network should prompt the Community to show solidarity and make these funds available? Answer given by Mrs Wulf- Mathies on behalf of the Commission (22 December 1997) So far, the Commission has not received any request from the Spanish authorities for part-financing by the Cohesion Fund of the project in question. It cannot decide on any part-financing until it has received and studied such a request. (98/C 158/198) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3547/97 by Jose· Valverde Lo·pez (PPE) to the Commission (12 November 1997) Subject: Generation of photovoltaic energy using space platforms Neither the multiannual programme for renewable energy sources nor the new research programme includes plans for producing photovoltaic energy using space platforms. However, according to scientific literature, the exploitation of solar energy in space has great future potential. What information has the Commission received on this matter from its scientific advisory committees? Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (10 December 1997) The Commission is aware of numerous articles, especially in popular science journals, about orbiting space stations equipped with gigantic photovoltaic panels to convert solar radiation into electric energy. As the atmosphere absorbs a significant part of the solar radiation, terrestrial photovoltaic power plants need bigger surfaces for the same power output. They are, however, much cheaper to install than orbiting space stations. Furthermore, the electric current produced can be used directly and does not require conversion to potentially dangerous microwave beams for power transmission to huge antennas on the earthís surface. The Commission does, however, encourage research on special photovoltaic cells for space applications such as gallium-arsenide semiconductors, because these cells can be usefully employed in terrestrial photovoltaic power plants with concentrating lenses and mirrors. (98/C 158/199) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3554/97 by Petrus Cornelissen (PPE) to the Commission (12 November 1997) Subject: Tourist tax Concern has arisen in the Netherlands tourism sector over the growing number of local authorities that wish to introduce or increase tourist taxes to compensate for revenue shortfalls