WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/00 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. Pollution of the Danube.
26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/83 (2001/C 26 E/101) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/00 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission (9 March 2000) Subject: Pollution of the Danube The entry of highly toxic substances into the waters of the Danube via a tributary, causing damage to flora and fauna in all the countries through which the river flows and presenting an uncontrollable public health hazard, has highlighted yet again the problem of safety controls for sites and factories using dangerous substances. Leaving aside the financial aid offered by the EU for the decontamination operations, can the Commission say whether: 1. 2. 3. 4. it does not consider it expedient to monitor the industries at risk, some of them using obsolete technologies, operating in the countries which have applied for accession; it does not consider it essential to promote periodic checks, with the agreement of the countries concerned, in order to prevent environmental disasters which are irreparable in the long term; it does not consider that the accession negotiations should include the obligation to clean up potentially polluting industries by a certain date and to install proven safety systems for production processes using toxic substances; it does not consider it appropriate to make any aid to tackle environmental disasters conditional upon measures to clean up polluting industries and the installation of safety systems? Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission (7 April 2000) The accidental cyanide spill 1. and 2. from a gold mine in Romania reinforces the need to give environmental issues high priority during the pre-accession phase. The Commission therefore supported the setting up of an international task force to assess this accident and its impact. It will assess what should be done to alleviate the negative impacts, to prevent other similar accidents from occurring at the Baia Mare gold mine, and to inform the public of all the above-mentioned issues. Equally, it will identify any potential similar áhot spotsí in the Danube river basin but also elsewhere in the candidate countries. 3. Environment has already a high priority in the accession negotiations. The general Community position for the accession conference explicitly underlines the need to ensure a high level of protection. The negotiating positions of the Community lay down a clear strategy to achieve this objective. This includes in particular giving priority to industry-related legislation and trans-boundary pollution. In addition to the position taken during the negotiations, the Community has called for all new investments in the candidate countries to comply with the environmental acquis already during the pre-accession period. 4. In granting financial assistance to avoid ecological disasters, the conditionality will have to be defined on a case by case basis and according to the financial instrument used. In this context, it is also important to recall that the polluter pays principle is one of the main cornerstones of the environmental policy of the Community that should be fully applied