Substantive changes to the new Granadilla port construction scheme

29.3.2007

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1950/07
by David Hammerstein Mintz (Verts/ALE)
to the Commission

On 6 November 2006, the Commission issued a report pursuant to Directive 92/43/EEC[1], Article 6.4.2., on the new Granadilla port construction scheme in Tenerife. In section VIII of the report (Proposed compensatory measures), paragraph B.i, on the impact of the port construction on native species and the preservation of the sites affected, it was laid down that: ‘i. Effect on the Atractilys preauxiana species population, included in Annexes II and IV to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992, on the preservation of natural habitats and woodland fauna and flora. — Declaration of a new SCI for the protection of the populations observed in the area of the Granadilla industrial park. The total surface area of the new SCI shall be 0.93 hectares. Furthermore, it is proposed that this area serve as a donor for the restoration of the southern districts from which the subpopulations have disappeared (reintroduction of the species into the “Montaña Roja” SCI)’.

The declaration of the new SCI proposed in the report of 6 November 2006, and the prejudice which the new Granadilla port could cause to this SCI were not taken into consideration in the environmental impact statement published in the BOE of 26 February 2003.

Has the Commission taken due account of the environmental impact which the construction of the port will have on the new SCI designed to protect Atractilys preauxiana?

What criteria does the Commission believe should be taken into account when deciding whether a project has been changed so substantially that its economic and environmental viability need to be reassessed?

Does the Commission believe that the changes made with regard to this particular scheme still allow it to be claimed that a fresh environmental assessment is not required?

Does the Commission believe that the environmental impact assessment procedure, and the resulting environmental impact statement on the Granadilla port construction scheme are compatible with the directive on environmental impact assessments?

• [1] OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

OJ C 45, 16/02/2008