WRITTEN QUESTION E-0215/00 by Mauro Nobilia (UEN) to the Commission. Waste incineration plant at Battipaglia.
21. 11. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 330 E/103 (2000/C 330 E/114) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0215/00 by Mauro Nobilia (UEN) to the Commission (4 February 2000) Subject: Waste incineration plant at Battipaglia (P-2423/99) (1) and the answer given by With reference to the previous question on this subject Mrs Wallstrom on behalf of the Commission, and bearing in mind that it would be desirable for the Commission to be able to carry out preventive checks on possible breaches of the rules governing existing waste incineration plants which might occur once a planned project is completed, Will the Commission say: ü whether it considers that the waste incineration plant in question, once it has been built in accordance with the plans, is likely to infringe Community rules on the prevention of air pollution from waste incineration plants? ü what measures it intends to take to ensure compliance with existing Community rules on waste disposal, in particular Council Directive 97/11/EC (2) of 3 March 1997, amending Directive 85/37/ EEC (3) on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment? (1) OJ C 219 E, 1. 8. 2000, p. 158. (2) OJ L 73, 14. 3. 1997, p. 5. (3) OJ L 175, 5. 7. 1985, p. 40. Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (13 March 2000) the Community environmental The prevention of air pollution from a plant which is still at the project stage is to be considered in the framework of legislation: Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985, on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment and Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997, amending Directive 85/337/EEC. In particular, Article 1 of Directive 97/11/EC provides: Member States shall adopt all measures necessary to ensure that, before consent is given, projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject to a requirement for development consent and an assessment with regard to their effects. Air pollution is among the impacts assessed. impact assessment (EIA) The project to which the Honourable Member refers appears to be one of the classes listed under Annex II of Directive. Article 4, paragraph 2, of Directive 97/11/EC states: Subject to Article 2 (3), for projects listed in Annex II, the Member States shall determine through: (a) a case-by-case examination, or (b) thresholds or criteria set by the Member State whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10. The Commission has requested detailed information on this specific case. It will ensure the observance of relevant Community law. As for the possible action of the Commission in order to ensure the correct application of Community law, the Commission would stress that its powers are limited to those conferred by the EC Treaty. The Commission, as the guardian of the EC Treaty, will not hesitate to take all necessary measures, including infringement procedures under Article 226 (ex Article 169) of the EC Treaty, in order to ensure the observance of Community law relevant to the specific case