WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1101/99 by Anneli HULTHÉN Common rules on pensions
21. 12. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 370/165 (1999/C 370/233) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1098/99 by Yvonne Sandberg-Fries (PSE) to the Commission (15 April 1999) Subject: Sewage treatment plant at village of Tolon, the Peloponnese, Greece The EU has part-funded, through the Community Envireg programme, the construction of a sewage treatment plant on the outskirts of the village of Tolo on the Peloponnese in Greece. The total cost of the plant is Drs 420 million. No work has apparently been carried out on the treatment plant since 1996. Sewage is still not treated and is at present transported to a valley and dumped. Last year, the area around the plant was used as an assembly point for various kinds of equipment which seemingly does not belong to the plant. To allow a treatment plant to remain half-built at the same time as sewage from a densely built-up area is dumped in the mountains year after year is totally unacceptable. It is contrary not only to the new European limit values for sewage but it is also a downright squandering of taxpayers’ money. It is high time that European citizens were given a clear indication whether the EU is capable of managing common resources better. Can the Commission explain how it is possible for no work to have been carried out on the sewage treatment plant on the outskirts of the village of Tolo for at least three years? Will it say what percentage of the cost of the project the EU has contributed and clarify when the project management plans to complete the plant? Has the Commission carried out a detailed evaluation of this Community project and will it say how taxpayers’ money will be reclaimed if the plant does not become operational within the foreseeable future? Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (7 May 1999) It is true that work on a plant to treat waste water from the village of Tolo in the Peloponnese in Greece was part-financed under the Envireg Community initiative. Considerable progress was made in construct- ing the plant, but then problems arose, in particular with Greek administrative procedures. The Greek authorities informed the Commission that, despite their efforts, the problems persisted and were unlikely to be resolved within a reasonable time. In order to wind up the initiative, the Greek authorities therefore decided to remove the project, along with four others experiencing difficulties, from the list of Envireg projects. The EUR 2,94 million initially allocated to the five projects were deducted from the Greek authorities’ final statement of expenditure for the initiative. However, under Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment (1), the Greek authorities still have an obligation to provide Tolo with a waste-water treatment plant. The Commission has therefore carried out an independent evaluation of the current state of advancement of the project and is ready to examine any constructive proposal from the competent Greek authorities which would guarantee its completion. (1) OJ L 135, 30. 5. 1991. (1999/C 370/234) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1101/99 by Anneli Hulthén (PSE) to the Commission (15 April 1999) Subject: Common rules on pensions Regulation 1408/71 (1) lays down rules for the coordination of certain social benefits, including rules governing the payment of pensions in cases where people have worked in several Member States. However, not all types of pension are covered by the rules since the Member States have not yet agreed