WRITTEN QUESTION E-0728/00 by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland.
C 113 E/2 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 4. 2001 10 February. Their seats remained empty during the speech. After Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, Chairman-in- Office of the OSCE, had finished speaking, the diplomats returned to the meeting. At an informal meeting of EU Ministers in Lisbon on 11 February the Employment Ministers of Belgium and France left the room as soon as their Austrian colleague took the floor. Belgium and France are clearly at great pains to introduce a new form of cooperation and a new culture of political dialogue in European and international relations. They ascribe their strategy of exclusion to their concern that human and minority rights may be in danger in Austria because of the involvement of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the new centre-right government in Vienna. The following questions arise in this context: 1. Does the Council intend to accept this form of cooperation from now on, whenever it sees fit? 2. The EU special summit on employment policy in March was to have been prepared at the informal Council of Employment and Social Ministers. Will important political issues ü of which the employ- ment policy is a prime example ü be pushed aside by France and Belgium in the future as soon as the opportunity arises for a hitherto very reliable partner to be excluded in a way that attracts publicity? Joint answer to Written Questions E-0645/00 and E-0646/00 (20 November 2000) The measures to which the Honourable Member refers were announced in a statement made by the Portuguese Prime Minister on behalf of the Governments of 14 Member States. That statement is not binding on the Council. The Council has not taken a view on this issue and is not therefore in a position to reply to the questions raised by the Honourable Member. (2001/C 113 E/003) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0728/00 by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (17 March 2000) Subject: Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland There is considerable concern in northern Sweden that the Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland may damage the environment by greatly increasing emissions of nutrients and heavy metals into the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is feared, inter alia, that the methyl mercury load may increase by 20-30 %. Naturally, the level of mercury in Swedish fish would rise too. It is intended to flood 240 square kilometres of marshland. Various Swedish authorities have protested about the construction plans. Has the Commission had occasion to study this project, and have any checks been carried out as to whether it meets the requirements in the EUís Environmental Impact Assessment Directive? 18. 4. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 113 E/3 Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (8 May 2000) The Commission is aware of the Vuotos power plant and artificial lake project for which the Water Court in Northern Finland has recently (29 February 2000) granted a construction permit. According to the information in the press, the decision will be subject to appeals. Although projects such as this in principle fall under 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), Member States are not obliged under this Directive to cover projects for which consent procedures have been initiated before the deadline of implementation which was 1 January 1995 for Finland (see case C-362/92, Bund Naturschutz in Bayern, paragraph 19, and C-431/92 Commission v. Germany, paragraph 29). The application for the Vuotos project was lodged in 1992. The Finnish authorities have informed the Commission that the Finnish Act of Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures excludes projects for which public hearing has been carried out before 14 January 1994, such as the Vuotos project. In any event, the environment impacts of nutrients and heavy metals arising from the project have been assessed in the context of the permit procedure under the Finnish Water Act. The decision granting the construction permit analyses the estimated effects of the artificial lake on the water quality and fish in the artificial lake itself, in the river Kemijoki and in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is estimated that the water quality and recreational fishing will be disturbed, among others, by increased level of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, but that the effects will concentrate on the artificial lake itself and on the river downstream, being relatively minor in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. Further, it is estimated that the levels of mercury in certain fish species (pike, perch, burbot) will during the first 8-15 years after the construction increase considerably (over 1 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) in the artificial lake itself, significantly (between 0,5 and 1,0 mg/kg) in the Kemijoki river, but in a lesser degree in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. The Water Court pointed out that the health damage can be avoided by monitoring and informing the public about the situation. Further, it was estimated on the basis of the studies carried out that it is unlikely that the mobilisation of other heavy metals would have effects similar to the mobilisation of mercury. The Water Court ordered the applicant to assess further and monitor the effects on fisheries and fish. According to the information the Commission has received from the Finnish authorities, Finland has during the permit procedure informed the competent Swedish authorities about the estimated environ- mental effects of the project in the Swedish side. Accordingly as at presently informed, the Commission does not have any reason to take measures concerning the environmental impact assessment procedures carried out in this project. The Commission will continue to follow the on-going procedures at the national level. (1) OJ L 175, 5. 7. 1985. (2001/C 113 E/004) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1039/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (4 April 2000) Subject: Social and economic measures to reduce the pig population in Flanders In late February Mrs Margot Wallström, Commissioner with responsibility for the environment, said in her answer to written question E-2686/99 (1) that she was aware of the serious problems facing the Flemish Region because of the presence of considerable quantities of phosphorous and nitrogen