WRITTEN QUESTION E-1288/00 by Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca (PPE-DE) to the Council. The new European defence policy.
C 89 E/22 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 3. 2001 Conversely, the Commission has available to it instruments enabling it to maintain an awareness of movements in the various parts of the internal market and in particular the electricity industry. Moreover, in order to improve transparency, the Commission publishes its decisions concerning state aid on the Internet and in the Official Journal. The Commission publishes regular reports on the harmonisation requirements of the internal market for electricity. (1) OJ L 60, 9. 3. 1999. (2) State aid 2000/C101/03, OJ C 101, 8. 4. 2000. (3) OJ L 329, 30. 12. 1993. (2001/C 89 E/019) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1288/00 by Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca (PPE-DE) to the Council (27 April 2000) Subject: The new European defence policy According to an official report drawn up by the Commission mission which visited the US in January, substantial reservations exist within the US defence-related organs ü the National Security Council, the Pentagon, the State Department and the relevant committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate ü with respect to the European Security and Defence Identityí (ESDI). These reservations, as expressed to the participants in that mission by their US partners, include: (a) insufficient budgetary efforts by the EU Member States under the heading of defence; (b) the risk that the ESDI will weaken unified analysis and decision-making within NATO; (c) (d) concern at the possibility of the EU undertaking, unilaterally and without prior coordination within the NATO structure, crisis resolution and management actions; scepticism concerning the effective capacity of the ESDI, which, rather than being an operationally useful structure, could become a bureaucratic apparatus which would slow down NATOís response speed and impair the smooth running of the decision-making mechanisms. What is the position of the High Representative for the common foreign and security policy on each of the above concerns expressed by the US authorities in their contacts with the mission sent by the Commission to the US in January to discuss defence matters? Reply (23 October 2000) 1. The reinforcement of the European pillar in the North Atlantic Alliance goes in parallel with the development of a European security and defence policy. This will enhance the European security and defence policy. This will enhance the European capacity to respond to crises both through contribution to international organisations (UN, OSCE) and through actions led by NATO and on the other hand, autonomous actions. 2. This can only be seen as a positive development. There is no risk of slowing down or impairing NATOís decision-making process or of the EU undertaking unilaterally and without prior coordination with NATO, crisis management operations. that modalities will be developed for full consultation, cooperation and transparency between the EU and NATO. The work to establish the abovementioned modalities is well in progress in the appropriate EU instances and the Portuguese Presidency reported to the European Council in Feira on the progress made, including proposals on principles for consultations with NATO on military issues and recommendations the European Council agreed in Helsinki Indeed, 20. 3. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 89 E/23 on developing modalities for EU/NATO relations to permit cooperation on the appropriate military response to a crisis, as set out in Washington and Cologne. 3. As to the budgetary implications, it has to be stressed that any duplication will be avoided, therefore the efforts by those Member States which contribute within NATO to the Defence Capabilities Initiative will also benefit from the achievement of the headline goal set in Helsinki. It is for Member States to see whether the capabilities goals can be achieved through the simple reallocation of resources or need additional budgetary efforts. In any case the Capabilities Pledging Conferenceí which will be held at EU level before the end of the year will no doubt prove the seriousness of the EU Member States in the fulfilment of their new commitments. (2001/C 89 E/020) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1291/00 by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (19 April 2000) Subject: Project for construction of a water purifying plant in Gondomar in the context of the integrated improvement project for the Ria de Vigo financed by the Cohesion Fund The decision of the Commission to grant Cohesion Fund aid to the set of integrated clearance projects for the Ria de Vigo (Galicia) (Commission Decision 95/11/61/035) provides, in one of its paragraphs, for a specific action for integrated improvement for Gondomar and the river Miæor. This specific project was costed at ECU 4 836 036 in total. In the case of Gondomar, the first stage consists of the construction of a water purifying plant and a number of collectors; the construction work has terminated, but the plant is not yet officially in operation. The project has given rise to a major controversy in the local community, and has even been the subject of a complaint lodged with the regional ombudsman for Galicia: the plant has been built on privately-owned land belonging to a single proprietor, and the contract of sale was drawn up in a secret and irregular fashion. It further appears that the transaction has been highly profitable for the owner, who has now filed a request for the land to be reclassified with a view to using it for property development. In addition, the access road to the plant (linking the Ramallosa-Gondomar road to the parish of Dornas, in the municipality of Gondomar) runs through this personís land and has not yet been completed: access to the plant is thus not at present possible. Can the Commission call for an inquiry into these circumstances, as well as for the assessment and monitoring of this project, which has been suspended for some time and which appears to exhibit operational irregularities? Supplementary answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (26 July 2000) According to information provided by the Spanish authorities, construction of the Gondomar sewage treatment plant has been completed since February 2000 and the testing and implementation phase is currently in hand. The site of this plant was chosen after technical studies carried out prior to its implementation. Land was made available to the independent organisation Augas de Galiciasí, which is responsible for the project, by the municipality of Gondomar. The Commission is not currently planning an inquiry into this project specifically. However, it would like to remind the Honourable Member that the monitoring of projects financed by the Cohesion Fund is in the hands of a monitoring committee which meets twice a year. The Commission will therefore certainly be checking on the project in question within the framework of this committee