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Press Release
The guidelines governing the TEN-T [1] are now under revision by the EP and its conclusions will be reported to the Council of Ministers later in the spring. Green groups argued that any revision of the TEN-T should aim to move EU transport policy towards sustainability and demanded that the EP ensures that EU environmental legislation is directly cited and upheld in TEN-T Regulations. NGOs said that projects that are on the priority list of the proposed TEN-T guidelines to receive EU funds should be withdrawn if found to infringe European legislation such as the Birds, Habitats and Water Framework Directives. "We don't want environmentally damaging projects to be approved! Our message is clear and legitimate - a project that infringes several European laws is a bad project for Europe. The EP has the opportunity to make the necessary changes to the proposal. To take just one case, current plans will lead to some 65 percent of the Danube's Natura 2000 sites being destroyed!" said WWF spokesperson Francisco Tavares. Three cases were presented to the MEPs. A plan to further deepen the Danube, on the Rhine-Main-Danube section, was presented by WWF. Among other things, these modifications would have permanent negative - even disastrous - impacts on the valuable wetland areas between Vienna and Bratislava. The affected areas would also include the Danube National Park in Austria, large sections of the Danube in Hungary, including the Danube-Drava National Park as well as the most valuable intact stretches along the lower Danube between Bulgaria and Romania. An EU-funded motorway project set to pass through the Kresna gorge was introduced by CEE Bankwatch Network. The Kresna gorge is a 17 kilometre long site of outstanding biodiversity located in south-east Bulgaria. It is home to rare species protected under the Bern Convention and the EU Habitat and Bird Directives. The project to build a bridge in the Messina Strait - linking Sicily to Italy's mainland - was presented by BirdLife International. The Strait is an important conservation site for migratory birds of prey and storks in Europe and the remaining natural habitats are likely to be destroyed in what is already a highly urbanised area. Magda Stoczkiewicz, of CEE Bankwatch/Friends of the Earth Europe, commented, "No EU or national funds should be made available to these projects until a full strategic environmental assessment of the entire TEN-T network has taken place. A long-term vision by EU leaders for each of those projects is needed, considering all possible alternative transport modes and layouts. Anything less will be disastrous, create irreversible damage to Europe's rich biodiversity and repeat past mistakes." Contacts: Note to editors: 1) The Trans-European Networks for Transport is a response to the needs to broaden and improve territorial cohesion and boost the competitiveness and growth potential of the enlarged European Union. The Commission proposed a new revision of the TEN-T network guidelines and of the TEN-T financial rules on October 1, 2003. Its aim is to concentrate resources on priority infrastructure projects and to facilitate Council and Parliament's agreement on these new proposals so that they can enter into force as soon as possible. The estimated amount required for all priority projects is EUR 220 billion and the total cost of the trans-European network by 2020 will be EUR 600 billion. Friends of the Earth
Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the
protection of the environment,
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