Isola delle Correnti

16.12.2013

Question for written answer P-014164-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Rita Borsellino (S&D)

Isola delle Correnti and Capo Passero lie at the southernmost point of Sicily. Owing to their special geography, the zone in which they are located has been declared a site of Community importance (SCI) and at the same time a special protection area (SPA).

Impact evaluations conducted in Sicily are governed by Regional Government Act No 13 of 8 June 2007 which awards responsibility for such evaluations to the municipalities in which the respective SCIs and SPAs are located.

It is safe to say, and easy to demonstrate, that the bodies in charge of conducting impact evaluations, be it at municipal or regional level, are in no way independent and often non‐competent.

Authorisation has been granted for works whose impact on the protected ecosystem will be to destroy it, and on which, in violation of Article 75 TFEU, the municipality of Portopalo had already issued a favourable opinion three months before the start of the evaluation process. The fact that the authorities are responsible for the violations in question arouses legitimate concerns that the information they are providing is biased and does not offer the best means of ascertaining whether Community rules have been infringed.

In view of the above, can the Commission state what action it will take to safeguard the aforesaid site of Community importance and to reinstate the public’s right to environmental protection, by means of establishing a bona fide environmental authority for Sicily which fulfils the criteria of being independent and properly competent?

OJ C 268, 14/08/2014