Kind attention:
Rory McKenna, Head of Unit D1 (Spain) - DG REGIO
CC:
Patrick Murphy, Head of Unit Water - DG Environment
Alexander de Roo, MEP
Dear Mr McKenna,
Last December, Mr de Roo, member of our political Group, had tabled a question on the cofinancing of the Jścar-Vinalopó conduit and its environmental conditions (written question 4067/03). The answer that we had received did not fully clarify our doubts and concerns (see annex). In particular, I refer to questions two and four of our written question.
Question two was asking whether the Commission
could guarantee that the funds will actually be made over only once the Spanish
authorities have complied with the conditions both in law and in reality.
What we would like to know is if the funds will be allocated only once
the environmental conditions are fulfilled.
One of these conditions foresees that studies on the ecological minimum flow of
the Jścar are realised before any water transfer takes place. Now: What happens
if the Jścar-Vinalopó conduit is built, and that the studies consider that any
water transfer will be incompatible with the ecological minimum flow
of the Jucar ? Is the Commission going to finance the conduit anyway?
Question four was asking whether the Commission will consider suspending the financing until the Spanish government has clarified its intentions on the possible mix between Jścar and Ebro waters, following some unclear declarations of a representative of the Spanish Ministry of Environment.
In other words and in more general terms, we would like to know whether the Commission is ready to suspend funding in case one of the conditions are suddenly not respected, and in particular the one referring to the prohibition to transfer directly or indirectly the Ebro waters to the hydrographical basin of the Jścar river, with the aim to compensate any water extraction from the Jścar basin itself.
I thank you for your kind attention, and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Gianluca Solera
Brussels, March 17, 2004