Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-19-Speech-2-290"
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"en.20080219.31.2-290"2
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".
Mr President, I should firstly like to remind you of the Commission’s firm resolve: however useful or necessary a project may be, it should never be realised to the detriment of the environment, public health or the cultural heritage of a Member State.
The Member States must take all the requisite steps to protect and safeguard cultural heritage. This is especially true of their historic city centres, which occasionally suffer from the additional pressures of increasing urbanisation.
As for the question by the honourable Member, I should like to point out the following: the high-speed Madrid-Saragossa-Barcelona rail line construction projects have been co-funded only partly by the Cohesion Fund.
The Trans-European Transport Networks Fund co-finances the preparation of studies on projects along the whole length of the track, including the extension from Barcelona to Gerona and Figueres.
Nevertheless, resources from the European funds may not have been accounted for or used for projects connected with the Barcelona underground line. It should also be noted that the planning and completion of projects is the exclusive responsibility of the Member State, which has an obligation to comply with and strictly implement the relevant rules of Community legislation.
In this particular case, there was no Community funding for the preparatory work on the section linking Sants and Sagrega stations, or for the tunnel to be opened near the Sagrada Família. The Commission was thus not kept informed, nor did it receive a copy of the environmental impact assessment completed by the Spanish authorities.
The Commission is aware that the relevant Spanish authority, namely the Secretariat-General for the Prevention of Pollution and Climate Change, has approved the environmental impact assessment pursuant to its decision of 30 May 2007. The text of the approving decision was published in the official Spanish Government journal in June 2007. The text contains references to the effect the project will have on cultural heritage, such as on the Sagrada Família.
Finally, the Commission has not been informed about the study drawn up by Pompeu Fabra University. The Spanish authorities are responsible for taking into account both the content of studies, as in this case, and public opinion.
The Commission will continue to monitor the situation. We hope that no harm will be done to this historic monument of cultural heritage belonging to the city of Barcelona."@en1
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