WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3107/97 by Roberta ANGELILLI to the Commission. Assessment of the environmental impact of the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line
C 134/84 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 4. 98 (98/C 134/108) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3107/97 by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission (13 October 1997) Subject: Assessment of the environmental impact of the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line Some time ago, the public prosecutorís office in Rome opened an inquiry into the construction work for the Rome-Naples high speed rail link. It appears that some Lire 5000 billion have been spent so far on an insignificant amount of work in connection with this project, mostly preliminary studies and consultantsí reports. This expenditure, which appears to be out of all proportion to the amount of work actually carried out, is the subject of the above-mentioned investigation. One particularly dubious aspect is the procedure whereby the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned from Nomisma, a consultancy set up by the current Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, who was the public watchdog for high-speed transport matters at the time the contract was awarded. In view of the foregoing, 1. Is the Commission aware of the investigation being conducted by the Rome public prosecutorís office into the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line? 2. Have breaches of the Community legislation on the award of public contracts occurred in connection with the Rome-Naples high-speed railway construction project? 3. Were the assessment studies of the projectís environmental impact carried out by Nomisma conducted in accordance with Community directive 85/337/EEC (1)? (1) OJ L 175, 5. 7. 1985, p. 40. Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (19 November 1997) 1. The Commission is not aware of the investigation being conducted by the Rome public prosecutor’s office into the Rome-Naples high-speed railway line. It is not its usual practice to investigate criminal proceedings brought by national judicial authorities. The Honourable Member is requested to provide the Commission with any evidence at her disposal which 2. might suggest that a breach of Community public procurement legislation has taken place. 3. As regards the issue of whether the environmental impact assessment procedure complied with Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (1), the Honourable Member is asked to refer to the answer given to her written question E-2351/97 (2). (1) OJ L 175, 5. 7. 1985. (2) OJ C 82, 17. 3. 1998, p. 62. (98/C 134/109) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3110/97 by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission (13 October 1997) Subject: European legislation on motorcyclists Recently the Italian press has carried reports of various new Community rules concerning motorcyclists and their equipment. This has led to protests on the part of Italian motorcycling associations, which have pointed out that the new rules would considerably penalize users of two-wheeled vehicles, and were based on somewhat questionable assessments of safety requirements. In view of the foregoing, 1. Could the Commission specify the nature of Commissioner Kinnockís proposals concerning motorcyclists and the legislative stages through which they will pass?