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Media Advisory Brussels, Thursday September 13, 2007
Environmental NGO’s welcome critical report of Petitions Committee on Via Baltica
BirdLife International and CEE Bankwatch warmly welcome the report of the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee on the Via Baltica road construction [1] which will be adopted tomorrow [2]. Representatives from the Polish government are expected to attend the presentation of the report.
Last June, MEPs from the Petitions Committee left for Poland on a fact-finding visit to meet with all interested parties and local people concerned by the project of constructing a dual-carriage roadway that would include bypasses of Bialystok and Augustow, in north-eastern Poland, and in doing so, seriously endanger a number of areas specially protected under the EU Nature Directives including the Rospuda Valley.
The report found that the Via Baltica strategic road network in Central and North-East Europe is essential to the economic and social cohesion of the EU as a whole. However, the fact finding mission of the EP Petitions Committee also confirmed that the Via Baltica road as it is currently proposed would cross very sensitive Natura 2000 areas as it encroaches upon Special Protection Areas designated by the Polish authorities under the EU Birds Directive. It would also put at risk sites proposed for protection under the Habitats Directive. The Committee agrees that Polish authorities failed to demonstrate that alternatives to the current road construction project have been properly examined and that the so called “Lomza alternative route” urgently deserves a more thorough and objective assessment.
The Committee’s report calls on the European Commission to, among others, assist the Polish authorities financially to improve road safety on traffic routes around Bialystok and Augustow as a matter of urgency. Another recommendation is to consider that EU funding should only be allocated to Via Baltica in North-East Poland if the route is selected on the basis of a properly conducted Strategic Environmental Assessment (including the assessment of alternative routes) and is in conformity with the European Nature Directives.
For more information, please contact:
· Ellen Townsend, EU Policy and Advocacy Officer BirdLife International, Brussels, +32 (0)2 2800830 · Magda Stoczkiewicz, Policy Coordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network +32 475867637 · Robert Cyglicki, Polish Green Network / CEE Bankwatch Network, Szczezin, Poland +48 501 101769
Notes for the editor
[1] For more information and pictures on the current situation around Via Baltica, please visit: http://www.viabalticainfo.org/spip.php?rubrique29
[2] The presentation of the report on the Fact Finding Mission to Poland “Via Baltica” will take place tomorrow at 9.00 in the European Parliament. The MEPs who conducted the mission are Thijs Berman, David Hammerstein and Martin Callanan.
Polish government backs down for now over road construction – breathing space for threatened Rospuda Valley
Environmental NGOs welcomed Wednesday’s reports in the Polish media on the Rospuda motorway case describing how the European Court of Justice (ECJ) received an official declaration from the Polish government. This stated that construction work on the controversial section of the Augustow bypass through the Natura 2000 designated Augustow Forest, including the Rospuda Valley, in north- east Poland will not start until a final ECJ judgment on the case, which is expected within the next two years.
Malgorzata Znaniecka, of the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (BirdLife Poland), said: "If these reports are confirmed the Augustow Forest and the unique Rospuda Valley mires are safe for the time being. However, residents of Augustow risk facing further delays of an essential bypass, unless the Polish Road Agency and authorities undertake a serious analysis of all alternative routes, in compliance with European legislation."
Anna Roggenbuck, of Polish Green Network, a CEE Bankwatch Network member, said: "Alarmingly, despite today’s developments construction works continue on sections of the Augustow Bypass outside the Natura 2000 site, posing significant financial implications if Poland loses the case in the ECJ. Augustow could be left with a road to nowhere."
At the end of July, the European Commission applied to the ECJ for the temporary suspension of construction works that directly threatened the Augustow Forest Natura 2000 site. This followed a shock announcement from Polish officials that construction would start within the Natura 2000 site on August 1, as soon as the breeding season for birds was officially over.
Members of the European Parliament’s Petition Committee visited the site in June and they are likely to adopt a critical report on this case, on September 13.
For more information
Malgorzata Znaniecka, Ogolnopolskie Towarzystwo Ochrony Ptakow, tel. +48 605 072 963, e-mail: malgorzata.znaniecka AT otop.org.pl
Anna Roggenbuck, Polska Zielona Siec / CEE Bankwatch Network, tel. +48 509 970 424, e-mail: aniar AT gajanet.pl
Marta Majka Wisniewska, WWF Polska, tel. +48 602 888 143, e-mail: mwisniewska AT wwf.pl
Magda Stoczkiewicz, CEE Bankwatch Network, Tel: +32 475 867637, email: magdas AT bankwatch.org
Ellen Townsend, BirdLife International, Tel: +32-498-542292, e-mail: Ellen.Townsend AT birdlife.org