WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2147/98 by Sebastiano MUSUMECI to the Commission. Inclusion of the Palermo-Trapani-Siracusa rail route in the trans-European rail network outline plan
8. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/47 Commission › dealing with a number of illegal or harmful activities on the Web and promoting general measures to restrict these › may extend to certain forms of distribution of illicit drugs or medicaments. (1) OJ L 113, 30 April 1992. (2) OJ L 144, 4 June 1997. (1999/C 96/066) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2147/98 by Sebastiano Musumeci (NI) to the Commission (13 July 1998) Subject: Inclusion of the Palermo-Trapani-Siracusa rail route in the trans-European rail network outline plan At its sitting of 18 May 1995, when voting on the proposal for an EP and Council Decision on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, Parliament adopted Amendment 80, thus inserting in Annex I, Railway Network, Italy the routes Palermo-Trapani and Siracusa-Ragusa-Agrigento- Trapani. What degree of priority does the Commission accord to the implementation of the project for the above rail routes in Italy and what, if any, operational measures have been taken towards this end in conjunction with the national authorities? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (14 September 1998) The Honourable Member will be aware that the Parliament and the Council adopted the Decision No 1692/96/EC of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (1). Under Parliamentís amendment 80, only the conventional lines Palermo › Trapani and Siracusa-Agrigento were included in the guidelines. Agrigento › Trapani, a narrow gauge line closed to commercial service in 1985, did not fulfil the criteria for inclusion and could not be considered of trans-European interest. According to the principle of subsidiarity, the implementation of projects of common interest is the responsibility of the Member State concerned. Projects concerning the lines covered by Annex 1 can be co-financed by the Community via the TEN-T budget upon request from the Member State concerned, subject to the Commissionís agreement. According to Article 18§3 of the Decision, the Commission has to report on the implementation of the projects of common interest included in the guidelines. On the basis of the information received from the Italian authorities, the situation on the two lines is understood to be that Palermo-Trapani was electrified some years ago and upgrading of the section from Palermo to Punta Raisi (airport connection) is underway and scheduled to be completed in year 2000, while for Siracusa-Agrigento minor improvements (doubling tracks) on some sections are underway. (1) OJ L 228, 9. 9. 1996